Are ghost ships real? - Peter B. Campbell

Translator: Putri Hapsari Reviewer: Ade Indarta

One foggy morning in 1884,

Suatu pagi berkabut di tahun 1884,

the British steamer "Rumney" crashed into the French ship "Frigorifique."

kapal Inggris "Rumney" menabrak kapal Prancis "Frigorifique".

Seeing their ship filling with water,

Melihat air memasuki kapal,

the French crew climbed aboard the "Rumney."

kru kapal Prancis naik ke atas kapal "Rumney".

But as they sailed towards the nearest port,

Saat mereka berlayar menuju pelabuhan terdekat,

a silent form suddenly emerged from the fog:

sesuatu muncul dari kabut:

the abandoned "Frigorifique."

"Frigorifique" yang ditelantarkan.

It was too late to turn,

Terlambat memutar,

and the impact was enough to sink the "Rumney."

"Rumney" menabraknya dan tenggelam.

As the sailors scrambled into the lifeboats,

Saat para awak bergerak menuju sekoci,

the empty "Frigorifique" sailed back into the fog,

"Frigorifique" yang kosong berbalik memasuki kabut,

having seemingly taken its revenge.

setelah puas membalas dendam.

In reality, the French sailors had left the engines running,

Kenyataannya, awak kapal Prancis telah membiarkan mesin kapal hidup,

and the "Frigorifique" sailed in a circle before striking the "Rumney"

dan "Frigorifique" berlayar memutar sebelum menabrak "Rumney"

and finally sinking.

dan akhirnya tenggelam.

But its story became one of the many tales of ghost ships,

Tapi kisah ini hanyalah satu dari banyak kisah kapal hantu,

unmanned vessels that apparently sail themselves.

kapal tak berawak yang muncul dan bergerak sendiri.

And although they've influenced works like "Dracula"

Walau menginspirasi karya-karya seperti "Drakula"

and "Pirates of the Caribbean,"

dan "Pirates of the Caribbean",

crewless ships aren't the product of ghostly spirits,

kapal tak berawak bukanlah produk roh gentayangan,

just physics at work.

melainkan hukum fisika semata.

One of the most famous ghost ships was the "Mary Celeste"

Salah satu kapal hantu terkenal adalah "Mary Celeste"

found sailing the Atlantic in 1872 with no one aboard,

yang berlayar tanpa awak di Atlantik pada tahun 1872,

water in its hold,

dengan air di dalamnya,

and lifeboats missing.

dan tanpa sekoci.

The discovery of its intact cargo and a captain's log that ended abruptly

Kargo utuh dan catatan kapten yang berakhir menggantung

led to wild rumors and speculation.

menimbulkan rumor dan spekulasi.

But the real culprits were two scientific phenomena:

Tapi penyebab sesungguhnya adalah dua fenomena ilmiah:

buoyancy

tenaga apung

and fluid dynamics.

dan dinamika fluida.

Here's how buoyancy works.

Demikian cara tenaga apung bekerja.

An object placed in a liquid displaces a certain volume of fluid.

Objek yang ditempatkan di atas cairan menggantikan sebagian volume cairan.

The liquid in turn exerts an upward buoyant force

Cairan tersebut mengeluarkan gaya apung ke atas

equal to the weight of the fluid that's been displaced.

yang setara dengan beban cairan yang digantikan.

This phenomenon is called Archimedes's Principle.

Fenomena ini disebut Prinsip Archimedes.

Objects that are less dense than water,

Objek yang lebih renggang dari air,

such as balsa wood,

seperti kayu balsa,

icebergs,

gunung es,

and inflatable rafts

dan perahu karet

always float.

selalu mengapung.

That's because the upward buoyant force

Ini karena gaya apung ke atas

is always stronger than the downward force of gravity.

selalu lebih kuat daripada gaya gravitasi ke bawah.

But for objects or ships to float when they're made of materials, like steel,

Agar kapal yang terbuat dari bahan lebih rapat dari air, seperti baja,

that are denser than water,

bisa mengapung,

they must displace a volume of water larger than their weight.

bahan itu harus menggantikan volume air yang lebih besar dari beratnya.

Normally, the water filling a ship's hull would increase its weight

Normalnya, air yang mengisi lambung kapal akan meningkatkan beratnya

and cause it to sink -

dan membuat kapal tenggelam -

just what the "Mary Celeste's" crew feared when they abandoned ship.

seperti yang dipikirkan kru "Mary Celeste" saat mereka meninggalkan kapal.

But the sailors didn't account for fluid dynamics.

Tapi para pelaut tidak tahu dinamika fluida.

The water stopped flowing at the point of equilibrium,

Air berhenti mengalir saat mencapai titik keseimbangan,

when it reached the same level as the hull.

saat mencapai level yang setara dengan lambung kapal.

As it turned out, the weight of the water wasn't enough to sink the ship

Ternyata, berat air tidak cukup untuk menenggelamkan kapal

and the "Mary Celeste" was found a few days later

dan "Mary Celeste" ditemukan beberapa hari kemudian

while the unfortunate crew never made it to shore.

sementara kru yang apes tak pernah sampai ke tepi.

Far stranger is the tale of "A. Ernest Mills,"

Aneh lagi kapal "A. Ernest Mills",

a schooner transporting salt,

kapal pengangkut garam,

whose crew watched it sink to the sea floor following a collision.

yang krunya menyaksikannya tenggelam setelah tabrakan.

Yet four days later, it was spotted floating on the surface.

Tapi empat hari kemudian, kapal itu terlihat di permukaan.

The key to the mystery lay in the ship's heavy cargo of salt.

Kunci misteri ini adalah kargo berisi garam.

The added weight of the water in the hull made the vessel sink,

Berat tambahan air di lambung kapal menenggelamkan kapal,

but as the salt dissolved in the water,

tapi ketika garam larut dalam air,

the weight decreased enough

beratnya menyusut banyak

that the force of gravity became less than the buoyant force

sehingga gaya gravitasi menjadi lebih kecil dari gaya apung

and the ship floated back to the surface.

sehingga kapal mengapung kembali.

But how do we explain the most enduring aspect of ghost ship legends:

Lalu bagaimana dengan kisah abadi tentang legenda kapal hantu:

multiple sightings of the same ships hundreds of miles and several years apart?

kapal yang sama muncul berulang kali di tempat dan tahun berbeda?

The answer lies in ocean currents,

Jawabannya adalah arus laut,

which are like invisible rivers flowing through the ocean.

yang mirip sungai tak terlihat mengalir di bawah laut.

Factors, like temperature,

Faktor lain, seperti suhu,

salinity,

kadar garam,

wind,

angin,

gravity,

and the Coriolis effect from the Earth's rotation

gravitasi,

dan efek Coriolis dari rotasi Bumi

create a complex system of water movement.

membentuk sistem kompleks gerakan air.

That applies both at the ocean's surface and deep below.

Ini berlaku untuk permukaan dan dasar laut.

Sailors have always known about currents,

Pelaut sudah paham tentang arus,

but their patterns weren't well known until recently.

tapi polanya baru mereka ketahui akhir-akhir ini.

In fact, tracking abandoned ships was how scientists determined the shape

Nyatanya, melacak kapal terlantar adalah cara ilmuwan menentukan bentuk

and speed of the Atlantic Gyre,

dan kecepatan Pilin Atlantik,

the Gulf Stream,

Arus Teluk,

and related currents in the first place.

dan arus terkait.

Beginning in 1883, the U.S. Hydrographic Office

Dimulai tahun 1883, Kantor Hidrografik AS

began collecting monthly data that included navigation hazards,

mulai mengumpulkan data bulanan yang mencakup bahaya navigasi,

like derelict ships, whose locations were reported by passing vessels.

seperti runtuhan kapal, yang lokasinya dilaporkan oleh kapal yang lewat.

So abandoned ships may not be moved by ghost crews or supernatural curses,

Jadi kapal tak berawak tidak digerakkan oleh hantu atau kutukan supernatural,

but they are a real and fascinating phenomenon

melainkan suatu fenomena riil yang menakjubkan

born through the ocean

yang lahir di tengah samudra

and kept afloat by powerful, invisible, scientifically studied forces.

dan mengapung karena gaya ilmiah yang kuat dan tak terlihat.