Dramatic Photos Show Ghost Ship Drifting for a Year, Carried by Hurricane Dennis Across the Atlantic Ocean

Mia

Saturday, Feb 22, 2020 | 12:33 pm

(Dramatic Photos Show Ghost Ship Drifting for a Year, Carried by Hurricane Dennis Across the Atlantic Ocean)

Earlier this week, an abandoned "ghost" cargo ship was found drifting off the coast of County Cork, Ireland, following strong winds from Storm Dennis. An aerial footage by the Irish Coast Guard shows a cargo ship 80 meters (260 feet) long, MV Alta trapped on rocks near the village of Ballycotton

Photographers can now visit the area and capture dramatic scenes from rusty ships that have fought against the Irish landscape. The ship appears to have drifted thousands of miles for more than a year, from southeast Bermuda in 2018 to crossing the Atlantic Ocean.

Earlier, the US Coast Guard rescued crew members in September 2018. The head of the Royal Ballycotton National Lifeboat Agency (RNLI) told the Irish Examiner newspaper that he had "never seen anything left like that before."

Built in 1976, Alta has many names and owners. In September 2018, the ship experienced problems while sailing from Greece to Haiti. Power outages caused Alta to float in the sea for 20 days about 1,300 miles (2,100 km) southeast of Bermuda, according to the US Coast Guard, who was aware of his struggle.

With only two days of food left for the Alta crew, the coast guard dropped food and other supplies.

When the cyclone approached, the coast guard decided to rescue 10 crew and take them to Puerto Rico. Since the ship has been abandoned, the ship was last seen in September 2019 by a British Royal Navy ship in the middle Atlantic.

On Tuesday, personnel from the Cork County Council were seen boarding the wreck. There was no visible leak from the ship, according to environmental scientists who visited Ballycotton. Cork County Council, Irish Coast Guard and Wreck Recipient will decide what will happen to the ship.

According to the Irish Times, someone claiming to represent a shipowner has advanced, with ongoing investigations. Hurricane Dennis, who took the abandoned ship to the rocks, left thousands of homes, farms and businesses without electricity in the Republic of Ireland. In the UK, around 1,400 homes and businesses have been affected by flooding after heavy rains brought by the storm.

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