The removal and salvaging of a “ghost ship” which wrecked on the coast of East Cork in February could cost up to €5 million with locals in Ballycotton concerned that the costs of such an operation could be prohibitive.
It is feared that the 80 metre freighter MV Alta could be left stranded on the rocks outside Ballycotton unless the State produces the funds to pay for its removal.
There is still uncertainty as to the ownership of the vessel, which was driven onto rocks during a storm on February 15.
The vessel is not considered an environmental or pollution risk. In late February a helicopter air-lift operation removed almost 80 barrels of oil and potential pollutants from the ship.
One marine source warned that the monies involved in a refloating of the vessel by salvage experts is likely to see any such work postponed until the ownership of the vessel is legally ascertained.
The owner and their insurance company could be liable for the costs involved in a salvage operation.
The Government has been contacted by officials acting on behalf of a party which claims to be the legal owner of the vessel.
The vessel had been drifting abandoned in the Atlantic for almost a year and a half after being targeted by pirates and hijackers.
MV Alta was built in the mid 1970s and operated in Europe, Asia and Africa.
It was the focus of an attempted hijacking off Africa and another reported attack by pirates off Guyana in South America.
In October 2018 it broke down some 1,400 nautical miles from Bermuda en route from Greece to Haiti with the US Coastguard having to mount a major rescue operation for the 20-strong multi-national crew.
In September 2019, the vessel was spotted drifting empty and abandoned in the mid Atlantic by a Royal Navy ice patrol ship, HMS Protector.
MV Alta was still intact despite having been subjected to multiple Atlantic storms as it drifted on the currents.
It had been operating under the Tanzanian flag when it was abandoned in the Atlantic almost 18 months ago.
