Storm Dennis sends abandoned cargo ship to Ireland

An abandoned cargo ship that was last spotted near Africa in September 2019 washed up on an Irish beach yesterday.

MV Alta, an 80 metre vessel, was found washed up three miles west of Ballycotton, Co Cork, after being blown in by the winds of Storm Dennis.

The ship was made in 1976 and is described as derelict after being abandoned in October of 2018 in southeast Bermuda.

The Irish Coast Guard helicopter, Rescue 117, conducted an inspection of the vessel from the air but couldn’t put anyone onboard to do a further inspection due to the adverse weather, according to The Irish Mirror.

According to a spokesperson from the rescue team, the vessel has nobody onboard, and the U.S. Coast Guard had rescued its 10 crew members back in September, 2018.

“The vessel has been drifting since and today came ashore on the Cork coastline. What an amazing journey.”

Cork County Council said it is assessing the risk of an oil spill after seeing the ship and advised the public to stay away.

“Cork County Council has convened its Oil Spill Assessment Team as part of its Oil Spill Contingency Plan in response to the grounding of a cargo ship in Ballycotton.

“The Council is currently liaising with the Irish Coastguard in relation to the pollution risk and with the Receiver of Wreck in relation to ownership of the vessel which grounded at Ballyandreane, Ballycotton, Co. Cork, February 16.

“Cork County Council, which has responsibility for land based oil pollution risk, is continuing to monitor this ship in relation to any possible oil spillage or risk arising from cargo.

“The Council understands that the vessel was most likely diesel fuelled which poses less risk of pollution than heavy fuel oil. The exact risk level cannot be confirmed at this time.

“The ship will be inspected from a land vantage point in order to access this further.”

According to the The Irish Times the MV Alta had been en route from Greece to Haiti in 2018 but became disabled and had been drifting for almost 20 days when the crew radioed for help after their food and water supplies began to run low.

The crew was taken off the vessel about 2,220km southeast of Bermuda in October 2018 but since then the ship has continued to drift being driven eastwards by the prevailing winds.

The Royal Navy ice patrol ship, HMS Protector, came across the abandoned vessel off Africa on August 30th 2019 as it sailed towards the Bahamas to assist with hurricane relief efforts.

The Royal Navy attempted to make contact with the ship but received no response and it now appears it continued to drift before coming to lodge on the rocks at Ballycotton.

The ship has been the subject of an ownership dispute in the past, with claims it was once hi-jacked and towed to Guyana, but efforts will be made to establish where it was last registered.

Some reports suggest the MV Alta was sailing under a Panamanian flag when its crew were rescued and it was abandoned in October 2018, while other reports suggest it was registered in Tanzania.