After two months of being anchored, the Alkimos broke free and traveled on its own into the Eglinton Rocks, which is now situated to what is known as Yanchep. The damage to the ship was more intense this time and the thought of salvaging the vessel was left altogether.
The owners sold the ship to others, who intended on using the Alkimos as for scrap. In 1969, salvage workers descended upon the ship to do their duty, but a fire took place and they were driven off away. At that time, the ship was partly dismantled and left at sea, surrounding by several meters of water, becoming quite a visible attraction to those who walked by.
Today, the ship has neared the point, where disintegration has damaged its presence above the water line, where people on the beach are no longer able to catch sight of it.
When it comes to the paranormal issues regarding the Alkimos, you should know that an array of events in time (accompanied by a host of theories) have tainted the history of the vessel. Throughout time, many have believed that the ship was “jinxed” or cursed or haunted by ghosts. This was a common thought when the ship was working the waters that continued into its life as a wreck, which is why most of the interest of today surrounds the ship.
These beliefs date back to the time when the ship was under construction, as it was rumored that two workers lost their lives within the hull and their bodies were left where they died. It is believed their spirits haunt the ship, as higher-ups deemed it too difficult to rescue their bodies or the wartime stress associated with the construction of the ship caused the speed of completion to ignore the bodies, which would have place the timeline off schedule. No one truly knows the reason or if this event really took place.
While the ship was a Liberty ship, it is said that a murder-suicide took place onboard, which is one of the reasons why ghosts are connected to the life and death of the ship. On many different occasions (while the ship was at sea), reports of ghost sightings were made on the Alkimos. Others believe the odd occurrences aboard the ship were the doing of the caretaker, who lived on the vessel throughout the later part of the 1963.
Today, there are routine references made across the television and radio pertaining to the existence of the curse and wreck. A local morning show even revisited the experiences of others in relation to the Alkimos during one of their ABC-affiliated shows. The wreck continues to be the source of many haunted and paranormal tales. If you are interested in learning more about haunted locations about Australia (particularly in the western part), check out the articles titled, ” Haunted Spots in Australia” and ” Haunted Western Australian Tales.”