Salton Sea was a 51.8-metre supply vessel seized by British customs officers in 1988 over alleged drug smuggling. On 13 September 1990 she was taken near 61 degrees north, set adrift and sunk by Royal Navy gunfire as a target. This was a planned, unmanned sinking rather than an accidental disaster.
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Salton Sea was a 51.8-metre supply vessel seized by British customs officers in 1988 over alleged drug smuggling. On 13 September 1990 she was taken near 61 degrees north, set adrift and sunk by Royal Navy gunfire as a target. This was a planned, unmanned sinking rather than an accidental disaster.
The vessel and voyage
Salton Sea was a supply vessel about 51.8 metres long and 11.6 metres wide, listed at 190 tons. British customs officers seized her in 1988 in a case connected with alleged drug smuggling, ending her normal working life.
How it was lost
The Royal Maritime Auxiliary Service tug Rollicker took Salton Sea to the open sea near 61 degrees north and zero degrees east. She was set adrift and sunk as a Royal Navy target on 13 September 1990.
Deaths and survival
This was a controlled target sinking and the vessel was unmanned. No deaths are connected with the sinking in the checked accounts.
What remains
The wreck lies in deep water, reported at about 125 metres. Its recorded size and position make it a known modern seabed site, though the sources used here do not give a recent account of the hull's condition.
Why it mattered
Salton Sea links customs enforcement, an alleged smuggling case and Royal Navy training. Her story explains why a modern supply vessel lies far offshore even though no storm, collision or wartime attack sank her.
Sources for this account
Sources checked 2026-08-15.
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