Cork harbour-based boat building company Safehaven Marine has released new footage of the cargo ship that has been dubbed the 'ghost ship' after washing up on the rocks at Ballycotton. 

The 77m-long cargo ship, called Alta, was brought to the attention of the Irish Coast Guard around lunchtime on Sunday by a local who spotted the vessel.

It emerged that the ship had been drifting unmanned in the Atlantic for more than a year.

The 80 metre/250 feet cargo vessel which was built in 1976, 44 years ago, first made headlines in October 2018 when the U.S Coast Guard rescued 10 stranded crew members aboard the disabled ship 1,380 miles southeast of Bermuda.

The Tanzanian-flagged ship was said to be transiting from Greece to Haiti when the crew found they were unable to make necessary repairs on the vessel.

It is understood the crew were on board the ship for almost 20 days, running low on food and water when they were rescued by the U.S Coastguard.

The same ship was then spotted off the West Coast of Africa in September of last year before coming to the attention of the authorities for a third and final time off the Cork coastline, abandoned and derelict for a year and a half.

On Tuesday a marine contractor will step onboard the vacant vessel during low tide to carry out a further pollution risk assessment.

Any risk in relation to oil, other hazardous substances and pollution from the vessel will be evaluated.