🇧🇸BIMINI ISLAND

 25°43'38.13"N 79°17'52.43"W

(From Dan Kosmayer Photography)

   The Bermuda Triangle might be just a urban legend, but it is definitely a truth that ships and planes disappear there. Proof of this is Bimini, a resort island on the western side of the Bahamas, which is an actual graveyard made out of planes and ships. Most of these wreckages were sunken on purpose, with the goal of making a marine life ecosystem, but some of them have bizarre or tragic backgrounds. Today we'll investigate about the different vehicles that rest there, including facts and history.

   Starting with ship wrecks, the most famous one is the S.S. Sapona. This concrete giant remains still and untouched in Bimini's southern waters, resting from its turbulent past. The initial purpose it was built for, was to serve as a transport ship for US Army soldiers during World War I, yet, after the war, it had no use anymore so it was sold. The new owner had the unconventional idea of turning it into a floating casino and it didn't work, so it was sold again to a rather interesting guy called Bruce Bethell.

The S.S. Sapona from above (from Resort World Bimini)

   Bethell was a former British naval officer who opened a little liquor store in Nassau, Bahamas' capital. He seemed old and fatigued, but he was actually a cunning man who took advantage of the Volstead act for growing his business. In a nutshell, this act didn't allow the sale of liquor throughout the USA; therefore Bethell wanted to create supply routes where he would sell to Americans cheap alcohol outside of their country. And that's when Bimini comes into play, as it is separated only by 80 kilometers from Miami. Here, Bethell established a warehouse where he transported the beverages with the Sapona he previously bought and ended up with a fortune of roughly 3 Million dollars and with the nickname "The Bimini Rum King". And when all seemed perfect, the Sapona wrecked during a hurricane in South Bimini, meanwhile the Volstead act was repealed again. As a result, Bethell lived the rest of his life almost in poverty, meanwhile the S.S. Sapona was used by the US Army as a bombing target for training, until its abandonment.

Bimini Airport (from Bahamas Islands and Cays Realty)

   In what concerns the sunken airplanes, most are drug planes, as Bimini was an important islet for the Medellín Cartel because, again, you can easily smuggle drugs into the USA. This Cartel was also responsible for building the little airfield of Bimini, which firstly served for the Cartel's needs and now is used by fully loaded airplanes which let tourist masses on the island. Nevertheless, the most remarkable remain of the drug business is a plane wreck, which some sources consider it belonged to Pablo Escobar. Yet, for the disappointment of skeptical people, this is probably not true.

The supposed "Pablo Escobar Plane" (from Shore Excursions Group)

   Apart from that one, there were at least 10 plane crashes within the surroundings of Bimini with 10 recorded killings this last 100 years (Here is the record for aviation freaks). The most notable was in 2023; a Cessna 402B which travelled from Fort Lauderdale to Bimini and which suddenly disappeared from the radar. Local witnesses affirm watching it come down, but nobody has known the cause ever since. Is the Bermuda Triangle maybe really haunted?

Sources: B3A, The Islands of the Bahamas, Yacht Art Fleet, Scuba Diving, Power and Motor Yacht, The New York Times