Pulling out of Fallen London one day, I noticed a pirate ship nearby. Clicking on it, I saw that it was named, Beatrice I believe. Before I had a chance to open fire, it lurched towards me and then vanished. Quite a peculiar sighting.
That’s one of the NPC merchant/civilian vessels. They’re a little bugged out. They teleport about a bit
I like to imagine that they’re visual hallucinations. Weeks at zee with just the enigmatic officers and the food source…err crew for company, will do that.
That would explain why you sometimes spot them in the middle of an island, too…
Out of curiosity, when they end up in the middle of islands, are these islands close to a zone boundary?