“Ghost” cargo ship washes up on Irish coast after Storm Dennis

An abandoned cargo ship has washed up off the coast of County Cork, Ireland, after the tumult of Storm Dennis.

The MV Alta, an 80-metre cargo ship built in 1976, hit trouble in September 2018 on a voyage from Greece to Haiti. It lost power 1,300 miles south-east of Bermuda and was left drifting at sea for 20 days.

The US Coast Guard delivered food as supplies on board dwindled, but the decision was made to rescue the 10 crew members as a hurricane approached. The ship was then abandoned.

Over the next year and a half, it appears to have drifted thousands of miles across the Atlantic Ocean, before reaching Ireland earlier this week and getting stuck on the rocks near the village of Ballycotton.

County Cork Council have investigated the ship and said there is no visible pollution leaking from it. They also reported that a person had come forward claiming to be the ship’s owner.

Source: BBC News

Header image: John Finn