New documentary investigates whether mysterious shipwreck which appeared off the Californian coast is the 'cannibal rat-infested' Russian ghost ship Lyubov Orlova

  • Science Channel's What on Earth documentary series launched a probe into a mystery ship which appeared off the Californian coast last year
  • Investigators noticed that the ship was 295ft - the same as Russian ghost ship Lyubov Orlova which has been missing in the North Atlantic since January 2013
  • Experts said it was likely to have hundreds of diseased, 'cannibal' rats 
  • Further investigation found that it was in fact a 1930s mafia ship
  •  The ship is the S.S. Monte Carlo which sank nearly 80 years ago but resurfaced in due February 2016 after a high tide

A new documentary investigates the mysterious shipwreck which appeared off the Californian coast last year.

The Science Channel's What on Earth documentary series launched a probe into the mystery ship after investigators noticed that the ship was 295ft - the same length as the 'cannibal rat-infested' Russian ghost ship Lyubov Orlova.

The 4,250-ton ship - which was built to carry 110 passengers - was impounded in Newfoundland in 2010 after being deserted by her crew over a debt row.

The vessel was being towed to the Caribbean to be scrapped in 2013 when the line broke, leaving it lost at sea.

A new documentary investigates the mysterious shipwreck which appeared off the Californian coast last year

A new documentary investigates the mysterious shipwreck which appeared off the Californian coast last year

Experts say the ship was rumored to have been taken over by 'hoards of cannibal rats'.

Adventurers - who want to cash in on the ship's $800,000 value as scrap - do not believe she has sunk because the life-raft transmitters would have gone off.

But further research on the documentary suggested the ship was made of concrete - not metal - and other experts suggested it was one of the Mob's infamous gambling vessels from the 1930s.

The abandoned Lyubov Orlova has been missing since it cut adrift while being towed from Canada nearly a year ago

The abandoned Lyubov Orlova has been missing since it cut adrift while being towed from Canada nearly a year ago

Experts fear the 40-year-old liner there are likely to be hundreds, if not thousands, of disease-ridden rats on board with no source of food except each other

Experts fear the 40-year-old liner there are likely to be hundreds, if not thousands, of disease-ridden rats on board with no source of food except each other

The mafia-run ships were stationed in international waters and ran as  floating casinos, brothels and speakeasys.

The ship is, in fact, the S.S. Monte Carlo which sank nearly 80 years ago but resurfaced in due February 2016 after a high tide.

S.S. Monte Carlo was stationed just a few miles off the Coronado coast when a powerful start set it adrift in 1937. It ran aground, was buried by sand and forgotten about until it emerged again last year.