25 Abandoned Shipwrecks Around the World (26 photos)

According to United Nations estimates, there are more than three million shipwrecks scattered across the globe. Once-majestic vessels resting on the seabed or rusting along coastlines serve as a haunting reminder that nothing lasts forever. Ships that once sailed the high seas now stand as silent monuments to a bygone era.







A former Soviet ship resting off the coast of the Turks and Caicos Islands, a British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean, southeast of the Bahamas.





Off the coast of Fuerteventura, one of the Canary Islands. (WOLLEX)



Gytheio, now a small fishing town that served as the ancient port of Sparta. (JUSTELINE)



Zakynthos Island in the Ionian Sea. (TO GIAN)



In Oregon, USA. (MATT CONWELL)



Vila Nova de Milfontes, Portugal. (FRANK ZILLMANN)



Location unknown. (DARTH)



The Redcliffe Peninsula, Australia. (GORKATH)



Grytviken, South Georgia. (NOAA PHOTO LIBRARY)



Chuuk Lagoon in Micronesia. During World War II, a major Japanese naval base was located on the surrounding islands. On February 17, 1944, US forces launched Operation Hailstone, sinking over 30 large Japanese ships and dozens of smaller vessels. (GH0STDOT)



Off the coast of Grand Cayman, the largest of the Cayman Islands. (HAWKFISH)



Tobermory, Ontario, Canada. (ALIJA BOS)



Another view of Chuuk Lagoon, Micronesia. (GH0STDOT)



Batumi, Georgia. (RICHARD BARTZ)



Cranebugle Point, UK. (LAIRD TURNER)



Off the coast of Italy. (Klaus Leidorf)



Mar del Plata, Argentina. (MISSALIONA)



Grytviken, South Georgia. (SERGE OUACHEE)



Muynak in Karakalpakstan, Uzbekistan. (ISSALIONA)



In the Red Sea. (JOOS J. BAKKER)



Waters off the coast of Tromsø, Norway.



Laconia, on the southern Peloponnese peninsula in Greece.



Fraser Island, a sand island off the eastern coast of Australia.



Amorgos, a Greek island in the southern Aegean Sea.



St. Lawrence Island, located in the southern Bering Strait, 80 km from the Chukchi Peninsula.