MV ''Alta'' is an abandoned

merchant vessel A merchant ship, merchant vessel, trading vessel, or merchantman is a watercraft that transports cargo or carries passengers for hire. This is in contrast to pleasure craft, which are used for personal recreation, and naval ships, which a ...

currently located in Ireland. Constructed in 1976 with the name ''Tananger'', ''Alta'' was abandoned at sea in October 2018 and washed ashore in Ireland in February 2020, where her wreckage remains.

Career

''Alta'' was constructed in 1976 as the ''Tananger'', and has had several other names before becoming the ''Alta'' in 2017. By 2015, she was equipped with an

Automatic Identification System The automatic identification system (AIS) is an automatic tracking system that uses transceivers on ships and is used by vessel traffic services (VTS). When satellites are used to receive AIS signatures, the term ''Satellite-AIS'' (S-AIS) is ...

(AIS) which allowed her movements to be tracked. She periodically switched the AIS on and off as she mostly travelled around the Mediterranean Sea. Deactivating the AIS is unusual, as is the numerous name changes the ship had in her later years, which can indicate involvement in illegal activity.

Abandonment

In October 2018, the ship was on a voyage from Greece to Haiti. Such a long trip is unusual for a ship of this type and size, which typically stays closer to shorelines. The ship’s engines failed in the Atlantic Ocean, leaving the crew stranded. The

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and Admiralty law, law enforcement military branch, service branch of the armed forces of the United States. It is one of the country's eight Uniformed services ...

rescued the crew about south-east of

Bermuda Bermuda is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The closest land outside the territory is in the American state of North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. Bermuda is an ...

, and the ship was abandoned. After her abandonment, the ship's next moves are uncertain. An unverified report suggested that she was towed to

Guyana Guyana, officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern coast of South America, part of the historic British West Indies. entry "Guyana" Georgetown, Guyana, Georgetown is the capital of Guyana and is also the co ...

and possibly hijacked, only to be abandoned a second time. Regardless of what happened, the

ghost ship A ghost ship, also known as a phantom ship, is a ship, vessel with no living crew aboard; it may be a fictional ghostly vessel, such as the ''Flying Dutchman'', or a physical Flotsam, jetsam, lagan and derelict, derelict found adrift with its cre ...

was next sighted by in August or September 2019, near Bermuda. After this sighting, she likely continued to drift at very low speeds before eventually arriving in Ireland. However, the AIS was not functioning after her abandonment, making her course uncertain.

Wreckage

On 16 February 2020, the ''Alta'' ran aground on the Irish coast near

Ballycotton Ballycotton () is a coastal village in County Cork, Ireland, situated about east of Cork city. It is a fishing village that sits on a rocky ledge overlooking Ballycotton Bay and has a sandy beach that stretches for about east to Knockadoon Hea ...

Cork "Cork" or "CORK" may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Stopper (plug), or "cork", a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container *** Wine cork an item to seal or reseal wine Places Ireland * ...

amid

Storm Dennis Storm Dennis was a European windstorm which, in February 2020, became one of the most intense extratropical cyclones ever recorded, reaching a minimum central pressure of . The thirteenth named storm of the 2019–20 European windstorm season, ...

. The rare story of a modern day ghost ship, as well as the length of time it spent floating without crew or captain at sea (18 months), caught the global public's imagination and curiosity. The responsibility of the wreck fell to Irish Minister for the Marine as per the Salvage and Wreck Act 1993, until such time as a

receiver of wreck The Receiver of Wreck is an official who administers law dealing with maritime wrecks and salvage in some countries having a British administrative heritage. In the United Kingdom, the Receiver of Wreck is also appointed to retain the possession o ...

be appointed. Despite efforts to determine the ownership of the ship—so that the Irish state can try to recover costs incurred— ownership had not been established. Although the ship's commercial scrap value is "low," the cost to the Irish exchequer of removing the wreck could exceed €10 million. ''Alta'' had previously been the subject of an ownership dispute, with claims she was once hijacked and towed to

, but efforts have been made to establish where she was last registered. Some reports suggest the ship was sailing under a Panamanian flag when her crew were rescued and she was abandoned in October 2018, while other reports suggest she was registered in

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

. Sixty-two full barrels of oil were ultimately removed from the wreck by helicopter. Afterwards, the ship was sealed off and made inaccessible. By October 2020, the wreckage had deteriorated to the point that the Cork County Council feared that the ship would break apart. The County has requested assistance from other departments of the Irish government in removing the ship. Options including scrapping her, towing her out to sea and scuttling her were considered, however by early 2022 the hull of ''Alta'' had split in two following a series of storms. A report announced by the

Department of Transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government a ...

and Cork County Council in February 2023 on how to proceed with the ''Alta'' concluded that the risk to the general public had been reduced to medium following mitigation efforts by the authorities and risk to the environment was at acceptable levels. As of 2024, there are no plans to remove the wreck, as doing so would put salvagers and the local environment at risk.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alta 1976 ships Cargo ships of Panama Maritime incidents in 2018 Maritime incidents in 2020 Shipwrecks of Ireland Ghost ships