In 1968, a Spanish fishing boat (El Fausto) named Faust left the port of Tazacorte and set sail, its destination was El Hierro, 80km to the south. This fishing boat was cursed by the devil as its name suggests, and to this day it remains one of the most difficult cases to solve in Spanish history.
The mystery of the Faust ship in 1968 – Part 1: Background of the disappearance.
The mystery of the Faust ship in 1968 – Part 2: Disappearing for the second time despite being seen by the ship and providing food for the Faust to find its way back. The mystery of the Faust ship in 1968 – Part 3: the sailor lay down on the deck and the voyage was not intact. As the only ship in the world to disappear three times in a row, the story of Faust can be described as eerie and terrifying. Countless experts and scholars have delved into this case, but no one has been able to come up with convincing hypotheses. As an ordinary person, after reading the whole process of the case, there are probably a few questions in everyone’s mind as follows: Why would a seasoned sailor go astray on his first voyage in calm waters? When they were first rescued, why did all four turn down an invitation to escort them from the British ship? After getting enough items, why did the ship and its crew disappear for the second time? Whose body was found on the ship? Where did the other three go, are they alive or dead? What does the missing 28 pages of the diary contain? What does the so-called “God-ordained destiny” in Julio’s last words mean? Why did this ship that has been floating at sea for more than two months suddenly sank while being towed back to port, leaving the secret of Faust never solved? Are the statements of the two ocean-going ships that contacted Faust true and reliable? 
Before attempting to answer these questions, we should consider the existing explanations and the possibilities involved: 1. Illegal Migration Spain remained under the Franco dictatorship in 1968. Franco won the Spanish Civil War and took power in 1939. Because of his ideological closeness to the Axis Empire, Spain provided a great deal of private assistance to Nazi Germany during the Second World War, and it was because of these acts that Spain was subsequently isolated from the European countries. Therefore, the development of Spain in the 1940s and 1950s lagged behind, the economy declined, the people lived in extreme poverty. Along with Franco’s rule with an “iron fist” in the country and the strong suppression of all opposition, many Spaniards felt despair and had to leave their homeland, emigrating abroad. Especially for islands like the Canary Islands, the economic situation is worse. At that time, South America was in a period of relatively rapid development because it had not been affected too much by the Second World War. With the same language, it became the first choice of many immigrants. Spain. Julio, a member of the ship, has a brother who has moved to Venezuela – was the only variable on this voyage, was he the culprit instigating the crew to attempt the transatlantic? The answer is definitely not. First of all, the Spanish economy was on the rise since the 1960s. This was an emerging economy in the world at that time and was second only to Japan in speed. Tourism in the Canary Islands was very prosperous at that time. The family economy of the four members on board, in general, is not so bad, at least there is no reason for them to flee their homeland in this extreme way. Second, even if they had a reason to leave, it would be completely stupid to cross the vast Atlantic with a few dozen kilograms of fruit and a few liters of soft drink because they would die of starvation before reaching their destination . Even after they were first rescued, the British ship had provided them with sufficient supplies, it was completely impossible to support their boat to South America. However, there are still strong advocates of illegal migration – none other than the victims’ families, who would rather believe that their loved ones met another ship and were saved in the process. and went to South America, living in anonymity rather than thinking that these crews perished at sea. 2. Pirates This conjecture is very bold. That is when the British ship encountered the Faust for the first time, the four people on board were not the original crew, but pirates disguised as them. The crew members were actually captured or killed by them. This conjecture may explain why the crew were reluctant to decline the large ship’s offer after being rescued for the first time, insisting instead on resupply to return on their own. Not long after setting sail for the first time, Faust encountered a pirate ship, which easily robbed the fishing boat in a short period of time, but when the pirates found there was no cargo or treasure. On board the ship, the crew was dragged out to sea to be executed and the ship set out to sea to create false evidence of a shipwreck. When the British ship appeared, to cover up their crimes, the pirates chose to pose as the crew for help, and continued to carry out their evil plan after receiving the help. After all, the British ship only contacted Spanish authorities by radio, no one could determine if the rescued person was the real crew. And this also explains the mystery of Julio’s diary. When Julio was held captive by the pirates, he knew he didn’t have much time left, so he wrote in a note. The pirates kept his suicide note, but tore up the rest of the content. This conjecture also has many contradictions, first of all, there were no pirates in the waters of West Africa at the time, as there were no merchant ships worth plundering, the mainland was essentially desert and land. barren. The Spanish islands, with the exception of fishing, have essentially no other wealth from small crates of agricultural produce. And considering the size of the ship, it was unlikely that pirates would target such a small fishing boat as a target for robbery. As noted by Luciano Ascione, who discovered the Faust for the second time, there was no visible damage or traces of fighting on board the Faust – this indirectly negates the pirates’ plunder. And if the pirates hijacked ships and were discovered by the British ship, what about their original pirate ship? It is worth mentioning that the captain and crew of the British ship were questioned by the Spanish army in Rotterdam, and by the Dutch army after the second disappearance of the Faust, and they also released photos. of the victims to investigate whether they lied about Faust’s rescue. Facts have proven that the testimony of the captain and crew is completely reliable, and their rescue activities on board the Faust are also worthy of recognition. 
3. Illegal transportation This argument stems from the fact that the income of seafarers at that time was very meager. But life for the crew of the Faust at that time was also not very rich. Therefore, some people suspect that when transporting goods and fishing, they also transport some illegal exhibits such as guns, drugs or other prohibited goods. When their crime was discovered by Julio, they sailed out to sea to kill him, but as a result, they lost their way back, and eventually died of thirst at sea. To prove this statement, the crew of the ship Anna Di Maio discovered the Faust for the second time, officer Luciano Ascione discovered the goods and belongings on board when they boarded the ship for the first time, and at the same time they discovered the truth recorded in Julio’s notes. In order to embezzle the goods, they purposely sank the Faust, falsely claimed that it had accidentally sunk during towing, and deleted the contents of the smuggling log. Except for Julio, the bodies of others were also thrown into the sea. Compared to encountering pirates, this conjecture was even more impossible. Not to mention these sailors are smuggling drugs and guns, who will they sell to, because the island where they live is a rather poor island, if their trip that day is really for a some illegal activities, why would they let strangers like Julio board the train? Doesn’t this greatly increase their chances of being exposed? And how many valuable smuggled items hidden on a small fishing boat could cause all the crew on a large merchant ship like Anna Di Maio to take risks and make up such stories. ? 
4. Nazi Germany The 1960s were the height of the Mossad’s revenge campaign – Israel against the remnants of Nazi Germany, and the remaining Nazis in Europe sought refuge in South America via Spain. . It is said that a Nazi officer on the island of Hierro was discovered by the famous Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal. To avoid being hunted, he quietly hid in the Faust while it was docked and threatened the crew with his gun to head for the Atlantic. Regarding this conjecture, perhaps the people of the island are really imaginative, this plot if true, would probably be made into a blockbuster crime movie, after all, only in the movie can it be. That possibility can happen, because the average person cannot rely on a small fishing boat and meager amounts of water and food to cross thousands of kilometers of ocean. 5. Cold War Mossad and Nazis alone were not enough, another conspiracy theory even suggested that at that time American and Soviet submarines were fighting in the Atlantic Ocean, in order to avoid disaster, the Faust was forced to deviate and in the end they were still killed. And the question is why did these brave sailors not clarify the situation after they were first saved, and did not want to go home on the British ship? 6. Poisoning It is speculated that they were poisoned by gas leaks, food poisons or other things that disturbed the minds of these crew members, making it impossible for them to find their way home. But in fact, the toxin that can manipulate the mind to make people unable to find their way back but still awake in front of others has not been found on Earth.
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