The Bay of Nouadhibou is considered to be the worlds largest ship graveyard. The local officials were paid to let the ships rust in the shallow waters off the coast. Proper disposal of ships is an expensive procedure and a number of shipping companies were happy to cut a deal and sell their vessels to the Mauritanian locals. For an area that is as economically challenged as Mauritania, the income was probably an easier choice than maintaning a pristine coastline. Eventually the situation grew out of control, that the Mauritanians started to worry. Nowadays there’s a project from the European Union to take away some of the wrecks or destroy them with explosives.