The Lifeboat Mystery on Bouvet Island

This is not Bouvet Island but just a cool island stock image.

Bouvet Island & The Lifeboat

Before the actual mystery, I'll start off by giving a summary of the Island. Bouvet Island is the most secluded and remote island in the world with nothing for more than a thousand kilometres around it. It is a volcanic island with no inhabitants and is one of the three dependent territories of Norway. The island has an area of 49 square kilometres and it is located in the Atlantic ocean. 93 percent of the island is covered by a large glacier and the centre is filled with ice and an inactive volcano. The closest landmass is Antarctica which is 1700 km away, while the closest inhabited location is Tristan da Cunha island which is a whopping 2,250 kilometres northwest of Bouvet Island. The island was discovered on 1 January 1739 by a set of French ships but at that time mapping wasn't what it is now and nobody set foot on the island until 1927 by a Norwegian expedition.

Now to the actual mystery surrounding this Island and a strange occurrence on it. In April 1964, Allan Crawford, a British-born veteran of the South Atlantic went to the island by helicopter leading a survey team. Upon reaching, he made an unexpected and unsettling discovery. Surrounded by seals and in the middle of a small lagoon was a small boat, about the size of a small rowing boat or a ship's lifeboat. The boat was slightly damaged but still in good enough condition to be considered seaworthy and along with it were a pair of oars, a copper tank, and a barrel. According to his observations, it did not have any markings or indications of where it could have come from.

Making this mystery even more strange was that there ware no signs of human activity like a camp or even bodies on the island. Allan and his team searched the rest of the accessible parts but had to leave the island shortly after. On any normal island, this may not have been as strange but Bouvet Island itself is such a remote island that only the most adventurous travellers would have taken the risk of visiting it. 2 years after this, another expedition had been sent to Bouvet Island and the lifeboat seemed to disappear together with the other objects which were left near the boat. To date, it is unknown how the boat happened to be there or what could have happened to the people who were in it but a few valid theories have surfaced trying to explain this mystery.

Theories

1. The Reddit Theory-

The first and most believed theory is from a post on credit providing a reference to page 129 of the Transactions of Oceanographical Institute (Moscow,1960). It goes on to say - 

"The scientific reconnaissance vessel "Slava-9" began his regular 13th cruise with the "Slava" Antarctic whaling fleet on 22 October 1958 ... On 27 November she got to Bouvet Island. A group of sailors landed... - and then - couldn't leave the island in time because of worsened weather and stayed on it about 3 days. The people were withdrawn only by helicopter on 29 November"

Looking at this, it provides an explanation for many aspects of the mystery and thus shows why it is the most believed. Firstly, the question as to why the boat was there and who brought it would be answered as being "Slava-9" and it's crew staying there due to bad weather. The crew leaving by helicopter also tells us why the boat was left there and no bodies were found. The places where this theory still lacks and why it isn't 100% concrete according to some people would be the disappearance of the boat 2 years later as well as why the boat had no markings of being from the "Slava-9"

2. Shipwreck Theory-

The second theory states that some unknown ship/s or expedition must have wrecked somewhere in the Atlantic ocean near the island. The ship must've lost a lifeboat which followed the ocean and made its way to Bouvet Island. Now, this theory would give reason to the ship being there as well as why there was no crew or signs of there ever being one but it has quite a few loopholes. First of all, the island is far from trading routes as well and the chances of a ship making its way to the island are very slim. This theory also doesn't explain the barrel and other items as even if a ship did makes its way to the island the related items would be impossible to tag along with it. And finally, the disappearance of the ship remains a mystery and due to all of this, most people consider this theory false.

3. The boat never existed-

After the crew of the original survey team got back, it was only Allan who was very intent and crazed by the boat. Other than him most of the crew did not share in the obsession and fascination as to solving the mystery of the boat. Due to this, some people believe that Allan may have created it as a hoax and that there was never a boat. This theory would explain why the boat was never found 2 years later as well as everything else as there would be no need to prove that a boat ever went to the island in the first place.

Conclusion

This legend/mystery is really strange as many people claimed that it is solved and I personally really do believe that the Reddit theory is highly likely and covers all the bases but it is missing something. For some reason, the fact that Allan was the only one interested in the boat out of the whole crew even though it was a very mysterious thing to see is offsetting. Because of this, I'm split between believing the Reddit theory and that the boat never existed. Although if it did exist I'm quite sure that The Reddit theory holds true and in the 2 years before the next expedition the boat must've sunk into the lagoon and that's why it wasn't found. Whatever the truth is, this will always be an interesting and fun mystery.

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