Bottle With Mysterious Message Washes Up on Island, Sparks Wild Theories
Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content.
A message in a bottle discovered off the coast of a remote island in Western Ireland has captured viral attention after being shared on Reddit.
The note, handwritten in Indonesian and partially in English and Chinese, appears to be a desperate SOS. It is believed to read: "Please send help. We are lost since 12/20. There are 3 of us here. We don't know the name of this island. We are injured."
It ends with the phrases, "HELP," "HELLO," "SOS," a Chinese character (李), and what appears to be a name or ship designation: "Yong Yu Sing 18."
Reddit user Matthew posted the discovery under the title, 'Message in a Bottle,' after finding the note in a wax-sealed bottle on the coast of Inis Oírr, part of the Aran Islands off Ireland's west coast.
"Me and my friend found this message in a bottle washed up in a rock pool on the coast of Inis Oírr Island in the Aran Islands, Ireland," Matthew wrote in a post that now has thousands of upvotes and hundreds of comments.
"We took some photos before we brought it back to the bar, where another friend smashed the bottle to get the note out," Matthew, who didn't give a surname, told Newsweek. "We used Google Translate, and the first half of the message translated to the SOS message. The lower text did not translate."
Police officers in Galway told Newsweek: "An Garda Síochána does not comment on third-party material posted online. Gardaí in Co Galway received a report of an item found at Inis Oírr, Aran Islands, at approximately 4 p.m. on 19th of July 2025. No offenses were disclosed."
From left: A person holds the bottle found in the west coast of Ireland, and the message inside is displayed.
From left: A person holds the bottle found in the west coast of Ireland, and the message inside is displayed.
Almym/Reddit
"My Gut Tells Me It's a Hoax"
After sharing the pictures of the note and bottle online, Reddit users sprang into action.
One user recognized the name "Yong Yu Sing 18" not as a person, but as a vessel.
Reddit users quickly traced the name to the Yong Yu Sing No. 18, a Taiwanese tuna long-liner that vanished in December 2020. A Taiwan News report, published in early January 2021, said the vessel was last heard from on December 30 that year. Days later, the U.S. Coast Guard spotted it adrift, damaged and empty, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, over 600 nautical miles [690 miles] northeast of Midway Atoll.
There were no signs of the Taiwanese captain surnamed Li or his nine Indonesian crew members. The ship's lifeboat was missing, and its cabin windows were shattered.
"My gut tells me it's a hoax," Matthew said, "but Reddit has made me think, 'Just maybe.'"
In the comments, people were stunned. "Imagine this is real," wrote one user. "These three men are on an island all by themselves, no idea where they are, and this is their best hope. It's been four years."
Others offered practical advice. One commenter said: "I would contact the police or Coast Guard, if this is real, you could help save lives."
Despite thinking the note is likely a hoax, Matthew and his friend handed it to the police in nearby Galway. "They will let us know if anything interesting comes of it," he said.
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