Only 30 years ago, the Aral Sea was the planet’s fourth-largest inland water mass, covering an area of 26,000 square miles between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan in Central Asia. It was an ancient sea so vast that even Alexander the Great wrote about his struggles to cross it. But today, the Aral Sea is a ghost of its former self, reduced to just 10% of its original size and split into two smaller bodies of water.
The reason for this dramatic transformation is human intervention. In the 1960s, the Soviet government diverted water from the two rivers that fed the Aral Sea to irrigate cotton and rice fields in the region. As a result, the sea began to shrink rapidly, and by the 1980s, it had lost half of its volume.
The consequences were devastating. The fishing industry that had sustained communities for centuries collapsed, and the once-thriving ports that lined the shore became stranded in a sea of sand. Today, the Aral Sea is known as the “Desert of Ghost Ships,” with rusting hulls and decaying infrastructure dotting the barren landscape.
The environmental impact of the Aral Sea’s disappearance has been profound as well. The exposed seabed has created a toxic dust that contains salt, pesticides, and other chemicals, which have led to serious health problems in the region, including respiratory illnesses and cancer.
Efforts to revive the Aral Sea have been underway for years, with some success. In the past decade, the northern part of the sea has seen a slight increase in water levels thanks to a dam built on the Kazakh side of the sea. However, the southern part of the sea remains a barren wasteland, with no signs of recovery.
The story of the Aral Sea is a cautionary tale of the impact of human intervention on the environment. It serves as a reminder that the consequences of our actions can be far-reaching and long-lasting.
Jim says
Okay how does one shrink a sea so dramatically that ships are left stranded as shown in a photographs something doesn’t match up You would think that they knew what was forcoming
And could react accordingly In order to bring the ships into dry dock or some point where they weren’t left to be versus rotting shells on a dead sea bed
Ran says
I wondered the same thing. Why would they just abandon them?
Erik Bleeker says
They are former fishing’s ships. When the aral sea was drying up ( because the cotton industry) the sea becomes smaller and smaller. The salted water becomes to salt for the fish and died. So there was no longer a fish industry and so no longer need for these boats
So the left theme there. I been there in the early 90’s. They let the boats rust away
Maybe a sign and a remembrance to the failure of the sovet system
Les says
Where would you take them to, it’s an inland sea.
Iqbal Ahmedd says
Probably it might be the O zone effect..we the noble creation of Allah is on the pathetic way to distructive mode of the globe 🌎🌍.
Nick Fell says
I guess the Aral Sea was not that deep and without it’s two feeder rivers and with intense Summer heat the consequences were dramatic. Boats with nowhere to go!
GD says
Because it cost less than salvage. It is always about the Benjamin’s. No matter when or where
Kathy Hooper says
It’s an inland sea the ships are too large to take to another water source. So what is to be done with them? Even the docks that they could be dry docked at are now in the middle of the desert. There was no choice but to salvage as much as possible and abandon the remaining hull.
John Dewit says
If they brought them into dry dock, what would they do with them with no sea to sail on.
Chip says
They were probably abanonded because there was no more use for them.
E A H says
And do what with them ?? The sea where they were used was GONE !?
George Swindells says
This is an ‘inland sea’. No access to the open sea. It was also fresh water, not salinized as the sea.
Heidi Lockwood says
What else could anyone do with them? Drag them through the mountains to the Caspian Sea? Maybe convert them to condos?
Petras Šinkūnas says
Once I had the opportunity to visit these surroundings, I heard a story that during Soviet times, there was some kind of celebration attended by the country’s leaders. The aim was to show that the ecological problem of the Aral Sea was solved. As the water level rose, ships were moved closer to the shore. After the celebration, the ships never sailed again.
Varyanna Ruthengael says
There are documentaries with interviews of the local fishermen and cargo seamen. It was pretty fast & dramatic, like when a town is flooded for a dam…and then just dearth downstream.
Iris Leask says
Could it be that those ships had been previously sunk in the sea?
Jeff says
How many of these vessels had already been damaged and sunk prior to the loss of water. Probably all of them.
Lamiya Israel Nuvalga says
I never ever believed that a sea as natural as it is, could be tempered in to being dried up. Human interference is strong.
Gavin says
As the water recedes, the ships become stranded from an early stage, only gambling on the hope that the levels will return. Who would actually want to believe a massive body of water like that would continue to dry up? Hence the ships left in the middle of the former sea bed. Not that it’s relevant,
Rahul Roy says
Since it is an inland water body , not connected to the ocean….the ships have nowhere to go
John Leo Odom says
There was no place to take them, and no use for them with the sea GONE!
Julia N. says
60 years ago they started depleting the water.
30 years ago the Stans became independent.
They were very poor countries with not much
infrastructure. Even the buildings were old
with no elevators. I filmed 6 months in Bishkek,
Khyrigistan. The area they are talking about
was mostly desert.
Steve Okullo says
This’ quite serious , but why should a government allow this to happen if at all they have good plans for their people or twas just a punitive act well calculated to torture those who depended on the sea .
Makarios says
So sad we don’t care about our planet..This is the impact of destruction of environment. Let’s protect our earth we don’t have another planet to live (.From Tanzania)