Latest: Ghost ship on the rocks in Ballycotton had been drifting for more than a year
The boat found on the rocks in Ballycotton has been declared derelict and abandoned by the Coastguard and is thought to have been sailing the seas solo for the past one and a half years.
The 80 metres/250 feet boat named 'The Alta' is a cargo vessel that was abandoned in South East Bermuda in October 2018.
The boat was then spotted off the coast of West Africa in September 2019 and has been wandering the seas before coming ashore in Ballycotton during Storm Dennis.
Speaking to The Echo, the Coastguard said that there were no immediate plans for the vessel but that they were keeping an eye on it.
"It is high and dry at the moment," a spokesperson for the Coastguard said, "We have no immediate plans, but it is early days, we must let Storm Dennis past and we will reassess the situation then."
The Coastguard helicopter Rescue 117 was directed to fly overhead to examine the situation.
It is not yet known if the 77 metres boat called 'The Alta' is manned or simply a container barge that may have come loose from a ship.
The incident occurred during the status orange weather warning for Cork which forecasts wind with mean speeds of 60 to 80km/h with severe gusts of up to 120km/h, strongest on exposed hills and coasts.
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