Ghost ship washes up on Irish coast during Storm Dennis
The path that the ship has taken since it was abandoned is a mystery.
A cargo ship that has been drifting at sea since September 2018 recently washed up on the Irish coast during Storm Dennis.
The powerful winds caused the ship to land on the shores west of Ballycotton in County Cork and it was detected by an Irish Coast Guard helicopter. There was no one on board when the ship washed up onshore.
Storm Dennis has battered the United Kingdom with intense wind gusts over 140 km/h, heavy rain and has even caused record-breaking floods and several fatalities. One month’s worth of rain fell in Wales over a two-day period and two male bodies were rescued from rough seas off the coast of southeast England.
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The ship became disabled in September 2018 when it was over 2,000 kilometres southeast of Bermuda. The crew had been sailing from Greece to Haiti and were unable to make the needed repairs to complete the journey, which resulted in the crew being stranded for nearly 20 days.
Hurricane Leslie was approaching, so the Coast Guard rescued all 10 crew members and abandoned the damaged ship. The ship was sailing under a Tanzanian flag and the path that it has taken since it was abandoned is a mystery.
Environmental scientists from the Cork County Council visited the ship on February 17 to investigate if it was leaking oil and found that there were no visible signs of pollution. The Irish Coastguard and the Cork County Council will determine the fate of this ship and could consider whether or not it can be salvaged.
Sources: BBC News | Coast Guard News
