A ‘ghost ship’ off the coast of Cork has become a major health and safety concern, a local TD says.
Sinn Féin TD for East Cork Pat Buckley says it's "possible" a blaze on the MV Alta this week was started deliberately.
The vessel is stuck on rocks near Ballycotten after it washed up on the Cork coast early last year.
The local fire service was yesterday called to the scene of a fire on the marooned ship.
Emergency services brought the fire under control last night, while gardaí continued to monitor the situation overnight.
Update on fire on board shipwrecked MV Alta.#Firefighting operations have finished for the evening due to the rising tide and poor light. The fire is substantially extinguished and will be further assessed again tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/88vfDaSyb9
— Cork County Council (@Corkcoco) April 29, 2021
The local council and gardaí have urged members of the public to not attempt to access the wreck as it’s in an unsafe condition.
Deputy Buckley told Newstalk Breakfast there have been warnings something like this could happen.
He said: “We were on not too long ago saying something unfortunately could happen - and it has.
“It has highlighted the danger of the MV Alta.”
He said over 30 members of the emergency services were pulled to the scene yesterday, including some who had to board the ship.
He observed: “The time and effort to go out there is eating into valuable services and resources that could be put somewhere else - god forbid someone was in a house fire or something.
“It’s turning into a real bad situation now, and a major health and safety concern.”
He says vandalism is the only scenario he can think of for the blaze, noting there still is some plastic and dry rope in the cab of the shipwreck that could be used to light a fire.
