A cargo vessel has been forced ashore in Ireland after drifting in the Atlantic for 16 months.
The 1,600-dwt Alta (built 1976), flying the Tanzanian flag, was beached on the Cork coast near Ballycotton on Sunday in Storm Dennis.
It had been abandoned in October 2018 en route from Greece to Haiti.
RTE News said a pollution risk assessment will be carried out, but the ship is not thought to pose an immediate risk.
Last August, UK naval vessel HMS Protector encountered the mysterious derelict vessel in mid-Atlantic."
Its AIS name shows up as Elias, but there had been no update since the previous September, when it was underway west of the Strait of Gibraltar.
Crew rescued
The USCG said in October 2018 that it had rescued 10 crew stranded on the disabled ship for nearly 20 days.
The crew reported that they had enough food for two days and water for 15 days.
A USCG plane dropped food supplies on to the vessel before more help could arrive.
The USCG was at that time coordinating with the shipowner for a tug to tow the vessel to shore, but it is not clear what happened next.
It was said to have been disabled since 19 September while en route from Greece to Haiti.
The owner listed last July by the Equasis database was Alta Shipping of Miami.
