Moynaq Ship Graveyard — Mo'ynoq, also spelt as Muynak and Moynaq, is a city in northern Karakalpakstan in western Uzbekistan. Moynaq, once a seaport, now has a population of only a few thousand residents at most, and this number has been declining precipitously since the 1980s due to the recession of the Aral Sea.
Moynaq ship Graveyard, Image credit: Mr Hicks46
30 years ago, Moynaq was one of the two biggest Soviet fishing harbours on the Aral Sea. The Aral Sea has been steadily decreasing since the 1960s, as the waters of the two rivers feeding it, the Amu Darya and Syr Darya, were diverted to irrigate agricultural areas. Formerly one of the four largest lakes in the world with an area of 68,000 km² or 26,300 sq mi, the Aral Sea has been steadily shrinking since the 1960s after the rivers that fed it were diverted by Soviet irrigation projects. In 2007, it had declined to 10% of its original size, splitting into four lakes – the North Aral Sea, the eastern and western basins of the once far larger South Aral Sea, and one smaller lake between the North and South Aral Seas. However, in 2009, the southeastern lake had disappeared, and the southwestern lake had retreated to a thin strip at the extreme west of the former southern sea. The maximum depth of the North Aral Sea was 42 metres, or 138 ft, in 2008.
The shrinking of the Aral Sea has been called one of the planet's worst environmental disasters. The region's once-prosperous fishing industry has been essentially destroyed, bringing unemployment and economic hardship. The Aral Sea region is also heavily polluted, with consequent serious public health problems. The retreat of the sea has reportedly also caused local climate change, with summers becoming hotter and drier and winters colder and longer.
The Aral Sea in 1989 (left) and 2008 (right) is shown in the images. Image credit: Wikipedia
The Aral Sea: Timeline of Shrinkage Image credit: Wikipedia
Mo‘ynaq, Graveyard of Ships in the Desert. Image credit: Globespotter
In an ongoing effort in Kazakhstan to save and replenish the North Aral Sea, a dam project was completed in 2005; in 2008, the water level in this lake had risen by 12 m, or 39 ft, compared to 2003. Salinity has dropped, and fish are again present in sufficient numbers to make some fishing viable. The Aral Sea watershed encompasses Uzbekistan and parts of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan.
Image credit: Tom McShane
Today Mo‘ynoq's major "tourist attractions" are the armada of rusting hulks that once made up the proud fishing fleet during the Soviet era and a one-room museum devoted to Mo‘ynoq's heritage as a centre of the fishing industry. Poisonous dust storms kicked up by strong winds across the dried and polluted seabed give rise to a multitude of chronic and acute illnesses among the few residents who have chosen to remain, most of them ethnic Karakalpaks, and weather unmoderated by the sea now buffets the town with hotter-than-normal summers and colder-than-normal winters.
Image credit: Tom McShane
Image credit: magellano
Image credit: Tim Motz
Image credit: Globespotter
Image credit: upyernoz
Image credit: louisfabries
Image credit: Tom McShane
Image credit: Denial Sefer
The former fishing port on the Aral Sea. The sea is now over 180 km away. Image credit: Owen Jacob
Aral Lake and the Ship Graveyard of Moynaq. Image credit: Gilad Rom
Image credit: nigelh88
Image credit: Andrea Sánchez
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