PHOTOS: In Indonesia, stranded ships a reminder of the 2004 tsunami

A worker paints a concrete ramp leading up to “Noah’s Ark,” in preparation for the fifth anniversary of the 2004 tsunami in December. Thousands of visitors are expected when work on a surrounding memorial park is complete.  (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

A man works on repairs to “Noah’s Ark,” a grim reminder of the deadly tsunami that took 170,000 lives in Aceh alone. Banda Aceh continues to rebuild, erecting schools, clinics, roads and villages in coastal areas that had been wiped clean by the invading ocean.  (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

The Apung, a 2,600-ton power-generating vessel that the tsunami deposited two miles inland in Banda Aceh, is now a major tourist attraction. It landed atop two houses, killing the inhabitants.  (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

Tourists look down from the top deck of the Apung, the power-generating ship now sitting on a lot two miles inland in Banda Aceh. City officials tried to move the ship but quickly decided it was an impossible task. It now is one of Banda Aceh’s biggest tourist attractions.  (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

Visitors walk past one of the heavy anchors of the Apung, the power-generating ship. Residents say a dozen bodies may still be buried beneath the ship. One tourist from Jakarta said the ship was a warning that man cannot always undo what God and nature have accomplished.  (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

The gangway of the Apung leads directly down to a dirt lot in Banda Aceh, where it came to rest. Residents ask visitors for a donation they say will assist families of the 4,000 killed in the immediate neighborhood alone. The city is also building a memorial nearby.  (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

Visitors clamber aboard the deck of the Apung in Banda Aceh. “Who among us could ever move this big ship?” said a tourist, Sugiono, who goes by one name. “God can bring it here from the sea, but we just don’t have the ability to bring it back.”  (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

Graffiti left by visitors covers the ventilation shafts of the Apung. Five years after the deadly tsunami, stranded ships of all sizes still dot the landscape, seemingly immovable objects tossed into awkward positions.  (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

Resident Bustaman, 45, climbs atop the Apung, remembering the day nearly five years ago when the tsunami struck, taking his 5-year-old daughter. “We were all running in fear when the first wave came,” he recalled. “I was holding my 5-year-old as tightly as I could. But my head was hit by a piece of wood. I don’t remember what happened next. But when I came to my senses, my little girl was gone.”  (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)