Pollution team inspect ghost ship
Update
Cork County Council’s environmental scientists have visited the area and are satisfied that there is currently no visible pollution within the Ballycotton Bay Special Protection Area or nearby proposed Natural Heritage Areas.
Cork County Council has consulted with the Coast Guard in terms of pollution risk and the parties have agreed to have an initial assessment of pollution risk carried out.
The council has requested its marine contractor to carry out this initial assessment of the wreck and following an appropriate risk assessment, the contractor will board the vessel at the next suitable opportunity which is expected to be at low tide tomorrow morning, Tuesday 18 February at 7am.
Any risk in relation to oil, other hazardous substances and pollution from the vessel will be evaluated
Earlier
Officials from Cork County Council will inspect a ghost ship later today which ran aground in Ballycotton yesterday during Storm Denis.
This 80 metre vessel called The Alta washed up three miles west of Ballycotton. The US coast guard rescued a 10 man crew from the vessel in October 2018 while the ship was last spotted off the coast of West Africa in September 2019 and has been wandering the seas ever since, until it washed up along the Cork coast yesterday afternoon.
Cork County Council this morning said that it is continuing to consult with the Irish Coastguard and the Commissioner of Wrecks and that an oil spill assessment team will convene at 12.30pm today to assess the current situation and determine what action will be required.
The ship will be inspected from a land vantage point in order to access this further.
The council understands that the vessel was most likely diesel fuelled which poses less risk of pollution than heavy fuel oil. The exact risk level cannot be confirmed at this time but Cork County Council does not believe that this wreck currently poses a risk to the special area of conservation within the Ballymacoda/Ballycotton area.
Cork County Council is also asking members of the public to stay away from the wreck location as it is situated on a dangerous and inaccessible stretch of coastline and is in an unstable condition.