El Caleuche: The Mythical Ghost Ship Haunting Chilean Seas

The vast expanse of the Pacific Ocean has long been a theatre for maritime mysteries, but few are as spooky as that of the ghost ship known as El Caleuche. Possessed by the devil, commanded by a warlock, and crewed by the damned, the stories surrounding El Caleuche has its roots in the archipelago’s local communities, who passed stories of this Chile ghost ship down from one generation to the next.

Over time, these haunting accounts of a shape-shifting ship took on a life of their own, growing into one of Chile’s most enduring maritime tales. Let’s dive into this chilling Chilean myth.

Stories of grisly ghost ships, sailing abandoned on the world’s oceans, are almost as old as time. The Mary Celeste, which was found abandoned in the North Atlantic in 1872 is the most famous, but the stories of the SS Baychimo, the MV Joyita, the Carroll A. Deering, and the SS Ourang Medan are equally perplexing, but perhaps none are as truly terrifying as that of El Caleuche, known as Buque de Arte, or the Magic Ship.

To the native Chilote people, the ghost ship is known by a few names. As well as El Caleuche, they call it Buque de Arte, or the Magic Ship, as well as Barcoiche, and Burque de Fuego, which translates as ‘the Fire Ship.’

Some say the word caleuche comes from the South American Mapuche caleutun, meaning ‘to transform or to change condition’, and che, meaning ‘people’. Others suggest it’s from calül ‘human body’ and che ‘people’. There’s also the idea that the name derives from reports of a seventeenth century Dutch ship, possibly called Kalache or El Calanche, said to have been lost at sea.

The most common version of the story of El Caleuche tells of a magnificent white ship with three masts and five sails, brilliantly illuminated with light blazing from every window and echoing with the sounds of music and revelry. Some say it resembles an old Spanish galleon.

This infamous ghost ship is said to be crewed by the spirits of those who died at sea lured aboard by mermaids, kidnapped fishermen transformed into mythical creatures, and supernatural beings from Chilote mythology, including the sirena chilota (a mermaid-like figure) and the Pincoya (a water spirit). The ship is believed to be controlled by sorcerers known as brujos chilotes, who use it to increase their malevolent powers.

Other versions of the story tell of men lured aboard falling into a stupor preventing them from talking about the ship, or the crew having a leg attached to their spines, similar to the imbunche, a half-humanoid monster from Chilote folklore that protects the entrances to warlocks’ caves.

The ship itself is said to sail at astonishing speeds, with a dazzling glow that can be seen on moonless nights. Some versions of the tale describe a festive atmosphere on its decks, with music and laughter echoing across the waves. Others paint a darker picture, portraying captured sailors forced to work until they become part of the spectral crew.

Also known as Buque de Arte, El Caleuche is said to possess extraordinary magical properties, including the ability to shapeshift into a tree or a rock, to submerge underwater to evade detection, to appear and disappear at will, and even to pass through other ships. One version of the story suggests the sailors can transform into aquatic creatures such as seals or dolphins.

The legend of this Chilean ghost ship is deeply intertwined with the history of the Chiloé archipelago, often being associated with sudden wealth and mysterious occurrences. Following the 1960 Valdivia earthquake, rumours circulated that El Caleuche was responsible for delivering goods and treasures to prosperous merchants who had made pacts with supernatural forces.

Anecdotal accounts of sightings of this Chile ghost ship are common in local folklore and have been for centuries, particularly among fishermen of the archipelago who claim to have glimpsed mysterious lights or a ship-like apparition moving swiftly through fog-shrouded waters.

In more modern times, one reported eyewitness account came from a Chilean naval officer around 1909, who’s said to have attested in a letter that some of his crew aboard the Huemel saw “two large, white lights (each about the size of a lantern) hovering no more than one metre above surface, with no vessel in sight.” These lights were reported to have merged into a single large flame pillar, moving at a speed between seven and fifteen miles per hour.

Another alleged account, supposedly from 1911, comes from a crew member aboard the ship Copiapó. This sighting described a luminous ship that “passed near them without stopping, without making noise, without stopping or responding to their signals.”

While these accounts don’t explicitly mention El Caleuche by name, they’ve become intertwined with the legend of this ghost ship, particularly its luminous appearance and mysterious behaviour.

The prevailing theories around the origins and nature of this ‘magic ship’ tend to cluster into a few key explanations.

One theory regards it purely as folklore, an amalgamation of local beliefs, Spanish colonial seafaring legends, and the often harsh realities of maritime life. In this view, El Caleuche is just a tall tale, used to explain unaccounted-for shipwrecks, vanishing vessels, adaptations of European legends, and eerie nighttime lights at sea. The story may also have served as a convenient cover for local smuggling operations.

Another view posits that reported sightings of El Caleuche may be tied to natural or atmospheric phenomena. The frequent mists, fog banks, and refractive light conditions in the region could create optical illusions, what some might interpret as ghostly vessels on the water. Some have proposed St. Elmo’s Fire (electrical discharges that appear on ship masts) or bioluminescent organisms as likely culprits for strange glows out at sea, fuelling reports of this infamous ghost ship.

With no definitive theory, the legend of Buque de Arte, with its spectral ship and cursed crew, sails on. Be it cunning smugglers, eerie atmospheric illusions, or otherworldly spirits, it’s clear that the captivating legend of this illuminating phantom vessel continues to ignite the maritime imagination.