Authorities must act 'once and for all' on ghost ship blighting Cork coast

MV Alta washed onto rocks near Ballycotton in East Cork after Storm Dennis struck Ireland in 2020

The wreck of the ghost ship MV Alta resting on the rocks at Ballyandreen Bay near Ballycotton, Co Cork. The shipwreck has become a magnet for antisocial behaviour. Picture: Dan Linehan

Authorities have been urged to deal once and for all with a ghost ship that has blighted the East Cork coast since washing up before the covid-19 pandemic struck.

A report on what to do with the MV Alta is long overdue from the Department of Transport and Cork County Council.

Consultants were paid over €36,000 in 2022 to carry out a health and safety assessment of the wreck of the MV Alta, which washed onto rocks near Ballycotton in East Cork after Storm Dennis struck Ireland in February 2020, becoming a magnet for antisocial behaviour.

A report by the Marine Casualty Investigation Board said it had drifted more than 2,300 nautical miles for almost 500 days before it was shipwrecked.

The ship, built in 1976, had originally been on course from Greece to Haiti in the Caribbean Sea in October 2018, before engines failed in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

While the US Coast Guard rescued the crew more than 2,000km off Bermuda, the ship was abandoned, drifting until it came to its final stop in Cork.

Since, authorities have struggled to deal with the remnants of the ghost ship, because its owners cannot be identified, and a multi-million euro bill will apply for its removal.

Near-miss incident

Successive storms Dudley, Eunice, and Franklin culminated in the 80m, 44-year-old cargo vessel splitting, while in January of last year, a near-miss incident involving the MV Alta and a massive oil tanker occurred.

The Department of Transport said in February this year that a working group, including the Irish Coast Guard, the Naval Service, Irish Lights, and the Sea Fisheries Protection Authority, had concluded deliberations on the MV Alta, but added that it would do one more round of stakeholder engagement before presenting its findings.

Cork East TD Sean Sherlock said there needs to be more urgency in dealing with the shipwreck.

"We need to see the report that was commissioned so that there is full knowledge of what is required to remove this ship," said Ms Sherlock.

This issue has trundled on for too long, there needs to be more impetus from state actors in dealing with this public safety issue.

"We need to see the report and actions arising from it put into motion."

In reply to a parliamentary question from the Labour Party TD, Transport Minister Eamon Ryan said that following the completion of the health and safety assessment, the report was shared with Cork County Council, the appropriate authority as prescribed by the Merchant Shipping (Salvage and Wreck) Act 1993.

"My department engaged with Cork County Council on the public safety risks associated with the wreck and a set of interventions, including the erection of fencing and signage, were identified," said Mr Ryan.

The report will be made public "in the coming weeks", he added.