An African "ghost ship" washed up on Ireland's southern coast after floating unmanned around the Atlantic for over a year.
A resident of fishing village Ballycotton in County Cork found the 77 metre MV Alta cargo ship beached on rocks last Sunday morning as a result of extreme weather, the Irish Examiner reported.
The cargo ship, which was built in 1976, is believed to have originated in Tanzania.
It had been floating around the Atlantic Ocean unmanned after a crew of ten were rescued by the US Coastguard 2000km southeast of Bermuda in September 2018, the Irish Examiner reported.
The last sighting was in September 2019 when the UK Royal Navy's Devonport-based HMS Protector spotted the ship in the Mid-Atlantic.
At the time they released a statement which said "We closed the vessel to make contact and offer our assistance but no one replied. Whilst investigations continue we’re unable to give you more detail on this strange event".
The recent lodging in Ireland was a result of Storm Dennis, which has caused widespread damage in Ireland including violent oceans and high winds.
Neighbouring countries England, Scotland and Wales have also experienced extreme weather.
The Mirror reported Ballycotton RNLI lifeboat operations manager John Tattan said he had never seen anything like the unmanned vessel.
"This is one in a million. It has come all the way up from the African coast, west of the Spanish coast, west of the English coast and up to the Irish coast.
"I have never, ever seen anything abandoned like that before," he told The Mirror. "This is one in a million."
Tattan said he was surprised no fishermen on the south coast had noticed the "ghost ship" before it ran aground due to its large size.
The Irish Coast Guard said in a post to their Twitter the ship had been thoroughly searched and confirmed no one was found onboard.
The ship is not visibly polluting the coast but an assessment into oil and other hazardous substances will be carried out on Tuesday. The boat is believed to have been run using diesel.
Officials are not yet sure what will happen to the boat.
