Myanmar officials investigating a “ghost ship” found mysteriously drifting near the Yangon region this week have found the answer to its fate.

The large, empty and rusty container vessel, Sam Ratulangi PB 1600, had been discovered by fishermen off Myanmar’s commercial capital.

The navy now say the freighter was being towed by a tugboat headed to a ship-breaking factory in Bangladesh.

However, the crew abandoned the ship after being caught up in bad weather.

Authorities and navy personnel had boarded the Sam Ratulangi PB 1600 on Thursday to search for clues after it ran aground on a beach.

Police and observers were baffled at how such a large ship, with no sailors or goods on board, had ended up in Myanmar.