The abandoned ship found drifting near the Yangon region of Myanmar was headed to a ship-breaking yard in Bangladesh, say officials.
The nay said the freighter was being towed by a tugboat, but the crew abandoned it after being caught up in bad weather, reports the BBC.
The large, empty and rusty container vessel ‘Sam Ratulangi PB 1600’ was spotted by fishermen earlier this week.
Authorities and navy personnel had boarded the vessel on Thursday to search for clues after it ran aground on a beach.
Police and observers were baffled at how such a large ship, with no sailors or goods on board, had ended up in Myanmar, says the BBC.
The container ship was described as being in a working condition.
The vessel, which was built in 2001, is more than 177 metres (580 ft) long, according to the Marine Traffic website, which logs the movements of ships around the world.
The ship's location was last recorded off the coast of Taiwan in 2009, and this was the first reported instance of an abandoned ship appearing in Myanmar's waters, according to the AFP news agency.
On Saturday, Myanmar's navy said it suspected the ship had been towed by another ship after "two cables... were found at its head".
They later found a tugboat, called Independence, about 80km (50 miles) off Myanmar's coast.
After questioning the 13 Indonesian crew members on board, they learned that the tugboat had been towing the vessel since 13 August, and intended to take it to a factory in Bangladesh that would dismantle and salvage the ship.
However, some of the cables attached to the boat broke in bad weather, and they decided to abandon the ship.
The authorities are investigating further.
The owner of the tugboat is thought to be from Malaysia, the BBC report cited news site Eleven Myanmar.