Luxury £63m cruise ship which took rich tourists on antarctic tours lies abandoned in paradise after accident at sea

FOR 24 years, the wreck of a great Antarctic-exploring cruise ship has been left to rot in a Pacific paradise.

The 287ft MS World Discoverer sank after smashing into a reef in 2000 in the Solomon Islands - and has remained half-sunk in its watery grave ever since.

Looking totally out of place next to a tropical ideal found 2,000km from northeast Australia, the abandoned cruise ship creaks as it rocks in crystal blue waters.

The luxury liner once boasted an observation lounge, a library, and a sundeck with a swimming pool and fitness centre.

But next to the forested shoreline, the enormous ship is being reclaimed by nature and its rustic carcass is slowly being eroded by the tide.

On April 30, 2000, MS World struck an uncharted reef as it sailed through the island chain's Sandfly Passage.

A distress signal was transmitted and all the passengers made it to safety as the boat heavily listed to one side.

The captain managed to sail her into Roderick Bay, just off the coast of Nggela Sule island and grounded her there to prevent her completely sinking.

But the ship, which once carried 140 passengers on explorations around the polar regions, remained forever stuck.

David Wright, a British passenger onboard at the time, said it was a "spectacular" site to behold.

"It was just rammed into the beach, breaking trees in the forest, which stretches down to the shore," he told .

"It was quite spectacular. And when we reached the beach, we could see a tree hanging from the prow of the ship."

There was multiple unsuccessful attempts to salvage the wreck, but it was reportedly fully abandoned after shots were fired by locals, who later ransacked the ship.

The ship was designated a "constructive total loss".

MS World Discoverer was first built in 1974 as a state-of-the-art vessel for long-distance cruises.

The globe-trotting vessel was originally built by Schichau Unterweser in Germany in 1974 and was able to navigate the Northwest Passage.

It was first sold to the Danish company BEWA Cruises and then two years later to Adventure Cruises Inc.

In 1990 the ship was registered in Liberia and six years later underwent a complete refurbishment.

It then began sailing through ice to Antarctica, with a fleet of inflatable dinghies added for passengers to disembark and explore the polar zone in.

Today, it has become a popular tourist spot.

Intrepid travellers can take an hour-and-a-half boat transfer from the Solomon Island's capital of Honiara and spend a day snorkelling around the wreck.

However, actually going inside its rotting structure is forbidden.

The Solomon Islands has become a largely unexplored graveyard for sunken ships, with roughly 200 thought to litter the archipelago's shores.

Many of the wrecks are a result of the fierce fighting that took place between Allied and Japanese forces during World War 2.

Famous Japanese warships Hirokawa Maru and Kinugawa Maru both lie undeterred in the waters west of the capital.

Downed fighter jets and bombers are also scattered along the seabed.

Elsewhere, a creepy abandoned cruise ship that was once considered the height of luxury is now a tourable floating wreck.

The MS Astor first hit the waters in 1986 and carried passengers on cruises for 34 years before arriving in a graveyard of ships destined for the scrapyard.

In 2021 the cruiser was sent to one of the biggest ship demolition sites in the world in Aliaga, Turkey.

And last year, The Sun told of an idyllic island with a floating abandoned hotel with a dark and tragic past.

The Galaxy Hotel in Bali was no normal holiday spot, as it's a refurbished seven-storey cruise ship.

Although once a popular place for tourists to kick back and relax, the building has now been left to rot and its closure remains shrouded in mystery.