The Shipwreck of RMS Mülheim

The approach to the shipwreck of RMS Mülheim. 1/160s 24mm F4.0 ISO 125

2020 was certainly a difficult and disappointing year, but one of the few highlights was my solo road trip to the South West of England, an area of the country I had hardly been to before. Due to this it made sense to head down to one of the most famous tourist attractions - Land’s End. After deciding I didn’t need to buy a pasty shaped pillow from the gift shop or queue to spend a worrying large sum of money to have my picture taken next to signpost – I decided I walk part of the coastal path which resulted in a mighty, unexpected, surprise.

The surprising sight that greeted me as I walked along the coastal path near Land’s End. 1/160s 24mm F4.0 ISO 125.

Looking from the cliff top I could see a huge shipwreck lying in a cove and mostly on land. Normally most shipwrecks are deep below water where you can’t see them, or what is on shore is just a few small fragments hardly worth investigating. This was really something else and, even better, there was a way to get down to have a closer look. I wasn’t an opportunity I was going to miss, but you might be wondering what ship is this? and how did it get there?

The view of the ship from the other side. The name is visible at the year and you can see some of the original blue paint work. 1/160s 70mm F4.0 ISO 100.

Originally called ‘Zeus’, it was built at the Tulcea shipyard in Romania where it was launched in May 1999 before being renamed as RMS Mülheim shortly after. At almost 90m in length and a beam of over 11m, it was a large cargo ship capable of carrying 130 TEU (130, 6.1m long shipping containers). In March 2003 it was carrying 2,200 tonnes of scrap car plastic from Ireland to Germany where an accident that wouldn’t look out of place in a cartoon happened. Despite having decent visibility, the Chief Officer caught his trousers in the wheelhouse as he stood up, falling over, and knocking himself unconscious. When he came to it was already too late, as the ship was much closer to the shore than it ever should have been and ran aground shortly after. The six crewmen were rescued by the Royal Navy and a two-month long salvage operation followed to clean up as much cargo as possible. Due to the ship’s location, it was deemed too dangerous to remove and so has been left in place ever since – slowly disintegrating through wave and storm action.

The clamber down is fairly steep and on loose and rocky terrain. Good footwear is advised. 1/160s 55mm F4.0 ISO 125.

Getting down the slope wasn’t too difficult, but it is steep, and I was glad to have worn appropriate footwear. There’s less than half the original ship left, and large pieces of metal are strewn everywhere as you approached. Thankfully weathering and erosion has removed most of the sharp edges. Still, you had to be careful as any trip or fall was bound to be painful and you had that steep slope to traverse back up to return to the path.

After many years the metal left behind has been worn down, beaten and eroded by storm and tidal action. The rust from the sea salt has produced fantastic colours. 1/80s 27mm F4.0 ISO 125.

Getting onto the ship was more difficult than I expected, the deck is tilted at about 45° or more and is very smooth and slippy from the constant barrages of salt water it receives. Hauling yourself up by using the railings made things a bit easier and once you got around the corner it wasn’t as difficult to stand up. There was a door propped open by a large piece of wood, but whilst there were a few braver than me who entered, I decided that was a risk too far. Knowing my luck, I’d knock the wood and the door would slam behind me! The colouration of the rusting metal was incredible, a deep mix of oranges, reds and yellows mixed in places by the green of algae that clung to the side. Despite the amount of rust much of it is still pretty solid and there weren’t any moments where it felt like the metal was going to give way under my feet.

Traversing the deep angle of the slippery deck is aided by the numerous hand rails. I was joined on this occasion by a Russian tourist who had known this ship was here before travelling to the UK and who’s English vocab was mostly swear words. 1/80s 24mm F4.0 ISO 125.

What’s left of part of the ship’s cabin. 1/80s 24mm F4.0 ISO 125.

It is possible to enter some parts of the ship but extra caution is required. 1/80s 24mm F4.0 ISO 250.

It’s hard to estimate how much longer this wreck will be here, as there is less and less with each passing year. So, for that I’m glad to have been able to explore it whilst a lot of it was still left. It certainly made for quite the unexpected adventure during a year when adventures were few and far between.

Panoramic of the entire wreck. As the years go by less and less of the ship remains. 1/80s 24mm F4.0 ISO 100.

The view of the shipwreck looking back down the coastal path towards Land’s End. Even if you don’t make it down it still makes for an impressive sight. 1/160s 32mm F4.0 ISO 100.

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