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(BUTTON) More

[97]Ireland

Ghost ship washes ashore in Ireland after more than a year at sea

Public warned away from MV Alta, which ran aground on Cork coast during
Storm Dennis

[98]Rory Carroll Ireland correspondent
[99]@rorycarroll72

Mon 17 Feb 2020 07.52 EST Last modified on Mon 17 Feb 2020 08.07 EST
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Play Video
0:36
Abandoned cargo ship washes up on Irish coast during Storm Dennis –
video

Abandoned by its crew, the cargo vessel made a lonely odyssey across
the Atlantic, a ghost ship seemingly destined never to make port.

The 77-metre MV Alta drifted for over a year, skirting the Americas,
Africa and [103]Europe, rusting and derelict yet resolutely afloat.

Its voyage came to an end during Storm Dennis on Sunday when it ran
aground near Ballycotton, a fishing village in County Cork,
[104]Ireland, overlooking the Celtic Sea. The Alta wedged itself on to
rocks, apparently intact.

On Monday experts from the local council, the Irish coastguard and
Ireland’s commissioner of wrecks were discussing what to do with a
visitor that was drawing lots of attention.

“Cork county council is asking members of the public to stay away from
the wreck location as it is situated on a dangerous and inaccessible
stretch of coastline and is in an unstable condition,” the council said
in a [105]statement.

A coastguard team has assessed the Alta from a helicopter. With
[106]Storm Dennis having passed, a separate team was due to inspect the
ship from the rocks. It is not believed to pose an immediate oil spill
risk.

Built in 1976, the Alta was flagged in Tanzania, changed owner in 2017
and was sailing from Greece to Haiti in September 2018 when it become
disabled about 1,380 miles (2,220km) south-east of Bermuda.

Unable to make repairs, the 10-strong crew was rescued by the US
coastguard cutter Confidence, which brought the crew members to Puerto
Rico. According to[107] gCaptain, a maritime industry news site, the US
coastguard contacted the ship’s owner to arrange a commercial tug to
tow it to shore.

It was reportedly towed to Guyana only to be hijacked, with its
subsequent fate unclear until August 2019 when a Royal Navy ice patrol
ship, HMS Protector, encountered it in the mid-Atlantic, apparently
unmanned.

HMS Protector (@hmsprotector)

Two days ago [108]@hmsprotector discovered this apparently abandoned
Merchant Vessel whilst mid-Atlantic. We closed the vessel to make
contact and offer our assistance, but no one replied! Whilst
investigations continue we’re unable to give you more detail on this
strange event.🌊🚢🇬🇧 [109]pic.twitter.com/x29sB5IF06
[110]September 2, 2019

It is thought to have later drifted up from Africa and past Spain to
[111]Ireland.

In ocean lore, the story of the ghost ship the Flying Dutchman is a
myth dating from the 1700s. The [112]Mary Celeste, in contrast, was
real: it was found abandoned, heading for the strait of Gibraltar in
1872, the crew’s fate a mystery.

More recently, in 2006 the tanker Jian Seng was found off the coast of
Queensland, Australia, without a crew, the identity of its owner and
its origins unclear.

In 2016 a wooden houseboat washed ashore on Ireland’s Atlantic coast.
Made with driftwood and polystyrene and fitted with solar panels, it
turned out to have been [113]built by Rick Small, a Canadian
environmentalist who had given the boat away and had no idea how it
ended up crossing the ocean unmanned.
Topics
* [114]Ireland

* [115]Water transport
* [116]Europe
* [117]news

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* [125]Reuse this content

more on this story

*

[126]Storm Dennis floods: how bad are they and what is being done?
There are questions over capability of flood defences and how money
is being spent
Published: 17 Feb 2020
[127]Storm Dennis floods: how bad are they and what is being done?
*

[128]'We're playing to the world': Galway's European capital of culture year
kicks off
Galway 2020 promises everything from Margaret Atwood to art with
local asylum-seekers. Its organisers and artists talk about
building bridges and creating a lasting legacy for Irish artists
Published: 12 Feb 2020
[129]'We're playing to the world': Galway's European capital of
culture year kicks off
*

[130]Storm Dennis: hopes fade for woman missing in Midlands
Police say rescue operation has become recovery mission, as 230
flood alerts remain in UK
Published: 17 Feb 2020
[131]Storm Dennis: hopes fade for woman missing in Midlands
*

[132]'Refugees Welcome': Bohemians team up with Amnesty for new away kit
The Dublin team have come together with the organisation to
highlight the tough living conditions facing many refugees under
Ireland’s Direct Provision system
Published: 12 Feb 2020
[133]'Refugees Welcome': Bohemians team up with Amnesty for new
away kit

*
+

[134]Boris Johnson will not visit areas of UK hit by flooding, says No 10
Published: 17 Feb 2020
[135]Boris Johnson will not visit areas of UK hit by flooding,
says No 10
+

[136]'Like a bad romcom': couple run against each other in Irish election
Published: 27 Jan 2020
[137]'Like a bad romcom': couple run against each other in
Irish election
+

[138]Storm Dennis: cars swept away by flooding in Wales – video
0:57
Published: 17 Feb 2020
[139]Storm Dennis: cars swept away by flooding in Wales –
video
+

[140]Irish parties under pressure to consider Sinn Féin coalition
Published: 27 Jan 2020
[141]Irish parties under pressure to consider Sinn Féin
coalition

(BUTTON) More more on this story

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