Derelict Ships & Vessels (Abandoned; No One Aboard)

[EnolaGaia]

Storm Dennis brought a derelict ship abandoned in 2018 to the Irish shore ...

Ghost ship lands in 'one in a million' place during Storm Dennis

A mysterious visitor docked on the shores of west of Ballycotton in County Cork, Ireland, on Sunday amid Storm Dennis.

The motor vessel Alta was wedged upon the rocks of the Irish coast after being adrift at sea for since 2018. No one was found aboard.

The 250-foot cargo ship built in 1976 was confirmed to not be polluting the area, according to the Irish Examiner.

The exact path it has taken over the years remains a mystery, though the Tanzanian-flagged cargo ship has been spotted adrift at least twice before it ended up in Ireland.

In 2018, the U.S. Coast Guard had rescued 10 crew members from the motor vessel Alta, according to the Coast Guard News. The crew had been stranded on the ship for nearly 20 days before being rescued in the height of the Atlantic hurricane season. ...

The U.S. Coast Guard became aware of the stranded ship on Sept. 30, 2018, about 11 days after the ship had become disabled. The Alta had been en route to Haiti from Greece when it had become disabled about 1,380 miles southeast of Bermuda, the crew members unable to make repairs. ...

The Confidence arrived on Oct. 8, rescuing the crew and taking them to Puerto Rico. According to the Coast Guard News, the Coast Guard's Fifth District command center had been working with the ship owner to find a commercial tug to tow the vessel to shore.

Speculation arose from marine sources that the ship might have been hijacked at least twice in that time, making it difficult for the owners to locate ...

A year later, the UK Royal Navy's HMS Protector came across a ghost ship in the mid-Atlantic.

"We closed the vessel to make contact and offer our assistance, but no one replied," a tweet from the HMS Protector said on Sept. 2, 2019. ...

... Ballycotton RNLI Lifeboat Operations manager John Tattan told the Irish Examiner that the ship washing up in Ireland, "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," Tattan said. "I have never, ever seen anything abandoned like that before."

He added that it was a wonder how the boat had not been detected by one of the many fishing vessels off of the south coast before it came ashore.

FULL STORY (With Photos & Video):
https://www.accuweather.com/en/weat...in-a-million-place-during-storm-dennis/682982

October 2018 US Coast Guard Article About Rescuing the Alta's Crew):
https://coastguardnews.com/coast-gu...hip-in-the-middle-of-the-atlantic/2018/10/10/

 

[EnolaGaia]

An abandoned boat drifted to rest in the Marshall Islands containing a load of cocaine worth an estimated $80 million. This isn't the first time such a thing has happened there.

Ghost boat carrying 1,400 pounds of cocaine washes up on remote Pacific island

A small, unassuming boat washed up on a remote island in the Pacific last week carrying no passengers -- but loaded with around 1,430 pounds (649 kg) of cocaine.

The 18-foot (5.4-meter) fiberglass vessel was discovered on a beach at Ailuk Atoll in the Marshall Islands, a chain of coral atolls and volcanic islands between the Philippines and Hawaii.
The cocaine came sealed and wrapped in blocks, according to the Marshall Islands police, who then collected and destroyed most of the packages by burning them in an incinerator. Photos of the blocks show stained, yellowing plastic, stamped with a red logo that bears the letters "KW." ...

The residents notified the authorities, and police brought the drugs back to the capital of Majuro, on another island. This week, police brought the cocaine to the incinerator; only 4.4 pounds (2 kg) were saved for the US Drug Enforcement Agency to conduct laboratory analysis, authorities said.

In total, the haul is worth an estimated $80 million, according to RNZ -- and is the largest amount of cocaine to ever wash onto the Marshall Islands.

Authorities said they believed the boat had drifted over from South or Central America, and could have been at sea for one or two years. ...

FULL STORY: https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/16/asia/marshall-islands-cocaine-boat-intl-hnk-scli/index.html

 

[blessmycottonsocks]

A classic story re-emerges for the 21st century:

This Mail article claims to have solved the mystery of the Kaz II.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...-crew-disappeared-leaving-engine-running.html

Not sure I entirely buy it though.
It is claimed that one of the crew got into difficulty when attempting to free the outboard's propeller from a fishing line that had snagged it, and his two companions entered the water to assist him and then found they were unable to get back on board the boat.

But the photo of the Kaz II shows it had a sloping stern, with a horizontal transom near the waterline. That would surely not have posed any sort of problem to climb onto and then it was a couple of easy steps and a climb over the rails onto the rear of the deck.

 

[Kondoru]

Two problems.

Outboards can possibly be pulled inboard.

On going into the water its wise to be on a safety harness...a rope one can be rigged up if you do not have one.

Given the difficulties, -in many cases, impossibilities of a `Man over board` situation`, harnesses are a Very Good Idea.

 

[ramonmercado]

Storm Dennis brought a derelict ship abandoned in 2018 to the Irish shore ...


FULL STORY (With Photos & Video):
https://www.accuweather.com/en/weat...in-a-million-place-during-storm-dennis/682982

October 2018 US Coast Guard Article About Rescuing the Alta's Crew):
https://coastguardnews.com/coast-gu...hip-in-the-middle-of-the-atlantic/2018/10/10/

Now it's on fire!

The fire on a ghost ship off the coast of Cork has been brought under control, but the incident has highlighted the serious danger posed by the abandoned vessel, a local TD has said.

Cork County Fire Service was called to the scene of the MV Alta ship near Ballycotton, East Cork, on Thursday afternoon after reports of a blaze aboard. Two units of Cork County Council's Fire Service tackled the blaze, with An Garda Síochána and the Irish Coastguard also in attendance. The circumstances under which the fire started are not known at this time, however, it is understood garda technical experts are due to carry out a forensic examination in a bid to establish the cause of the blaze.

https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-40278731.html

 

[blessmycottonsocks]

Recent incident featuring a substantial (80 metre) ghost ship.
The abandoned Chinese vessel was spotted from an oil rig in the Gulf of Thailand.
Attempts were made to tow the ship, but it started listing and eventually sank off the coast of Sichon.

https://thethaiger.com/news/nationa...st-navy-investigates-abandoned-chinese-vessel

 

[maximus otter]

Boat belonging to missing sailor last seen in US seven months ago washes up in Europe

A boat belonging to a sailor who has been missing for seven months has washed ashore in the Azores Islands.

The man - 44-year-old Joseph Johnson of North Carolina, USA - has not been found.

Carolina Beach police said Mr Johnson was last seen leaving the town's Federal Point Yacht Club on 22 November last year on his boat.

He was reported missing five days later by a friend who arrived in town for a previously arranged fishing trip.

But authorities in Sao Jorge Island, a small island in the Azores in the mid-Atlantic, contacted Carolina Beach police to say a 2006 fishing boat which washed ashore last week was found to be registered to Mr Johnson.

The Portuguese authorities are now helping Carolina Beach police in gathering evidence and information in a bid to try to find the missing man.

https://news.sky.com/story/boat-bel...seven-months-ago-washes-up-in-europe-12641379

maximus otter

 

[hunck]

Eerie 'ghost ship' runs aground on beach during storm with discarded lifejackets nearby

The deserted vessel was found ashore near Koh Tang Island in Cambodia after being blown by strong winds, and three lifejackets were discarded on rocks just 50 metres from the wreckage

Staff from the Koh Tang Observation Force inspected the shipwreck this morning, July 14, and searched for anyone who had washed up further along the coast.

They believe the vessel was registered in China.

They said today that the crew and captain had still not been found.