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The Joyita is sometimes referred to as the "Mary Celeste of the South Pacific" and has been the subject of several books and documentaries offering explanations that range from rational and conventional to supernatural and paranormal.[citation needed]

Numerous theories for the disappearance of the Joyita's crew and passengers have been advanced. Many were circulated at the time of the event, and several others have been put forward since.

Given the fact that the hull of the Joyita was sound and her design made her unsinkable, a main concern of investigators was determining why the passengers and crew did not stay on board if the events were simply triggered by the flooding in the engine room.



Captain injured theory

Captain Miller was well aware of the vessel's ability to stay afloat, leading some to speculate that Miller had died or become incapacitated for some reason (someone on board was injured- hence the bloodstained bandages). Without him to reassure the other people on board, they had panicked when the Joyita began to flood and had taken to the liferafts. However, this in itself would not account for the missing cargo and equipment, unless the vessel had been found abandoned and had her cargo removed.


A friend of Miller's, Captain S. B. Brown, was convinced that Miller would never have left the Joyita alive, given his knowledge of her construction. He was aware of tension between Miller and his American first mate, Chuck Simpson. Brown felt that Miller and Simpson's dislike of each other came to blows and both men fell overboard or were severely injured in a struggle. This left the vessel without an experienced seaman and would explain why those remaining on board would panic when the ship began to flood.



The "Japanese did it" and the piracy theories

The Fiji Times and Herald quoted at the time from an "impeccable source" to the effect that the Joyita had passed through a fleet of Japanese fishing boats during its trip and "had observed something the Japanese did not want them to see." Others theorize that modern sea pirates attacked the vessel, killed the 25 passengers and crew (and cast their bodies into the ocean), and stole the missing four tons of cargo.

The Daily Telegraph theorised that some still-active Japanese forces from World War II were to blame for the disappearances, operating from an isolated island base.

There was still strong anti-Japanese feeling in parts of the Pacific, and in Fiji there was specific resentment of Japan being allowed to operate fishing fleets in local waters. Such theories suddenly gained credence when men clearing the Joyita found knives stamped 'Made in Japan'. However, tests on the knives proved negative and it turned out the knives were old and broken- quite possibly left on board from when the Joyita was used for fishing in the late 1940s.



Insurance fraud theory

It was also revealed that Miller had amassed large debts after a series of unsuccessful fishing trips on Joyita. However, it would have been difficult to see the events surrounding the Joyita as insurance fraud, given that no seacocks were found open and the ship would be almost impossible to scuttle. Also, Miller was relying on Joyita being chartered for regular runs between Samoa and Tokelau- these government charters would have quickly cleared his debts.
Mutiny theory

One of Joyita's owners after the events of 1955, travel-writer Robin Maugham, spent many years investigating his vessel's past, and published his findings as The Joyita Mystery in 1962. Maugham agreed that events were started by the flooding from the broken cooling pipe and the failure of the pumps. The mattresses found covering the starboard engine were used either in an attempt to stem the leak or to protect the electrical switchboard from spray kicked up by the engine's flywheel as the water level rose. At the same time, the Joyita encountered increasingly heavy swells and squally weather.

Miller, knowing the Joyita to be unsinkable and desperate to reach his destination to clear his debt, pressed on. However, Simpson, and possibly other crew members, demanded that he turn back. This effectively led to mutiny and Miller and the crew struggled, during which Miller sustained a serious injury. By now the ship was entering heavier weather, with winds around 40 mph (64 km/h), and with one engine and a flooded bilge, was beginning to labour. The flooding in the engine room would have eventually caused the starboard engine to fail, also cutting all the vessel's electrical power. Simpson was now in control and made the decision to abandon ship, taking the navigational equipment, logbook and supplies, as well as the injured Miller, with them. It still seems unlikely that Simpson would choose to abandon a flooded but floating ship to take to small open rafts in the Pacific Ocean.

Maugham proposed that they sighted a nearby island or reef and tried to reach it, but in the strong winds and seas the rafts were carried out to sea, leaving the Joyita drifting and empty. The damage to the lightly built superstructure was caused by wave damage while the vessel was drifting in heavy seas.

sherry

Jul 15 2012, 08:48 AM

I could go along with what you say Duck. But pirates normally let the world know they've kidnapped people and want a ransom, don't they?

If pirates had just wanted the money and belongings of the people wouldn't they have took that and left them on the boat, or killed them on the boat? Meaning lots of blood, not a small amount. Maybe they captured the people to use as their slaves? As if left to the ocean I'd have thought that out of 25 people that one would have been found washed up somewhere. They'd have had to submerge all of those boats and burst the dingy too for there to be no sign of them. Must have taken some time to do all that and take or kill the people too.

Then again I assume a lot can happen in a mass of ocean where parts remain unseen.

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The missing four tons of cargo.

Duck

Jul 15 2012, 10:12 AM

sherry

Jul 15 2012, 08:48 AM

I could go along with what you say Duck. But pirates normally let the world know they've kidnapped people and want a ransom, don't they?

If pirates had just wanted the money and belongings of the people wouldn't they have took that and left them on the boat, or killed them on the boat? Meaning lots of blood, not a small amount. Maybe they captured the people to use as their slaves? As if left to the ocean I'd have thought that out of 25 people that one would have been found washed up somewhere. They'd have had to submerge all of those boats and burst the dingy too for there to be  no sign of them. Must have taken some time to do all that and take or kill the people too. 

Then again I assume a lot can happen in a mass of ocean where parts remain unseen.

The biggest red flag that screams pirates is

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The missing four tons of cargo.

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Her cargo consisted of medical supplies, timber, empty oil drums and various foodstuffs.