Vancouver Island’s ghost fleet: The haunting history of the Royston Shipwrecks

If you’ve ever wanted to stand on shore and stare at a real-life ghost fleet, you don’t need a passport or a time machine — just a trip to the seaside village of Royston, B.C.

In the waters of Comox Harbour, just a short drive from the town of Courtenay, lies a hauntingly beautiful sight: the Royston Shipwrecks.

But how did it all come to be?

How the 14 ghost ships got there

The story starts in the early 1900s, when Royston was booming as a logging hub. Massive ships once carried lumber and supplies in and out of the harbour, but there was a problem: strong storms and tides were threatening the busy wharf.

The solution? Sink old ships to act as a breakwater and calm the waves. Over the decades, barges, tugboats, and even warships were deliberately sunk here, creating a protective barrier for the shoreline and the logging operations.

Today, the breakwater is no longer in use, but the 14 ships remain — rusted, skeletal, and, yes, even a little spooky.

At low tide, you can spot them sticking out of the water, each one telling its own chapter of Comox Valley’s maritime history.

The Melanope

One ship among them looms larger than the rest: The Melanope: a 19th-century, three-masted barque with a backstory fit for a horror novel.

According to the Vancouver Island Bucket List, it launched in 1876 and was said to be a cursed ship right from the beginning. The story goes that, during the ship’s maiden voyage, an old woman was found adrift and taken on board. When she refused to leave the vessel, the crew threw her over the rail onto the tugboat. In response, she cursed the ship, the captain, and everyone on board.

From then on, the ship faced numerous problems — it became stuck in shallow waters multiple times, had run-ins with other boats, got damaged in storms, saw a crew member get sick, and more. It even narrowly survived a fire at the San Francisco port when the great fires ravaged the city.

In 1906, the Melanope was abandoned after almost sinking. It eventually sold to Comox Logging and Railway Company, and was later sunk as part of the Royston breakwater.

Nowadays, the Royston Shipwrecks are more than just scenery — they’re a haunting blend of B.C. logging history and engineering and also provide a thriving underwater ecosystem for marine life.

It’s a unique sight to see that attracts tourists from all over and is easily accessible from the Royston Seaside Trail. So why not check it out, stand on the trail, and look out at the skeletal silhouettes? You might just feel the Melanope is watching…

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