#GhostShip – As previously reported on Afloat.ie, the 'ghost' ship Lyubov Orlova, which broke its tow-line in the Atlantic more than three weeks ago is a sister of the first cruiseship caller to Drogheda Port, writes Jehan Ashmore.
The small cruiseship, Lyubov Orlova of 4,251 tons was built in Croatia a year before Clipper Adventurer, which made a historic call to the port on the Boyne last year. Clipper Adventurer, which was at one stage the Alla Tarasova and Lyubov Orlova belong to a series of eight sisters built for the Murmansk Shipping Company.
As ice-strenghtened vessels, they are designed to withstand heavy seas while operating as expedition ships, carrying passengers to both the Arctic and the Antarctic.
According to Travel.aol.co.uk, the drifting vessel is some 1,200 (nautical miles) off Galway.
A report in Canadian news service The National Post says that the Irish Coast Guard is examining satellite imagery to ensure the ship can be retrieved before it breaks apart or drifts into shipping lanes.
Responsibility for the vessel has already been disavowed by the Canadian authorities after the vessel, which was being towed from Canada to the Dominican Republic for scrapping, broke loose from its cabling.
