KYW Flashback: Toxic Cargo Stuck On Two Year Journey To Nowhere

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) --- An aging freighter quietly slipped out of Philadelphia on a summer night in 1986.

It was barely noticed by the maritime community and was unseen by the news media. It was the Khian Sea. It should have been called the Flying Dutchman, that legendary ghost ship doomed to sail forever.

The Khian Sea was carrying toxic Philadelphia ash to dump in the Bahamas. Turned away, KYW learned it was barred from returning here.

That started a two-year, widely publicized odyssey that took the doomed ship around the world in search of a welcoming port. It found none.

Then the cargo simply vanished. The ship's owners were convicted after the frustrated skipper admitted dumping it at sea.