The Monster in the Harbor: Abandoned Shipwrecks and Uncanny Ruins

This paper (re)construes the remains of a bulk timber carrier called Optimist that reportedly wrecked in the port of Greenville, Liberia during the Liberian civil wars (1989–2003). Its monstrous hull is an uncanny reminder of militarization, industrialization, and deterioration through extractive industries and global regimes of resource exploitation. This unique wreck site illustrates how landscapes created by ruin, abandonment, rust, and decay, especially when associated with times of mass conflict and violence, force us to rethink the meaning of materiality when it comes to modern metal shipwrecks in postconflict contexts. Through the lens of three monsters—skeletons, zombies, and ghosts—this paper suggests that a single, disarticulated wreck can shed light on bigger issues like memory, violence, the future, and archaeological practice in such shipwreck graveyards. Optimist demonstrates how shipwreck graveyards are not only final resting places for exhausted ships but are also conceptual spaces where human emotions like despair, hope, and fear are materialized through ghost stories, local lore, attempts to manage undead and threatening pasts, and material remains of the skeletons of ships past.