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On the Cork coastline a modern-day "ghost ship" which washed up on rocks in 2020, has split in two after being repeatedly battered during successive storm periods this year.

The MV Alta was grounded in Ballyandreane in Ballycotton, east Cork, on February 16, 2020, during Storm Dennis.

After being abandoned by its 10-man crew during a storm in Bermuda some 16 months earlier, the ship had drifted aimlessly in the Atlantic before winding up in Cork.

From that point on, its condition deteriorated significantly, with fears that it might break apart raised continually since about October 2020.

It now appears as though Storms Dudley, Eunice, and Franklin, which hit the country in quick succession this year, have finally caused the 80m 44-year-old cargo vessel to split.

More from the Irish Examiner on this latest development. 

 

Published in Coastal Notes

Tom Dolan, Solo Offshore Sailor

Even when County Meath solo sailor Tom Dolan had been down the numbers in the early stages of the four-stage 2,000 mile 2020 Figaro Race, Dolan and his boat were soon eating their way up through the fleet in any situation which demanded difficult tactical decisions.

His fifth overall at the finish – the highest-placed non-French sailor and winner of the Vivi Cup – had him right among the international elite in one of 2020's few major events.

The 33-year-old who has lived in Concarneau, Brittany since 2009 but grew up on a farm in rural County Meath came into the gruelling four-stage race aiming to get into the top half of the fleet and to underline his potential to Irish sailing administrators considering the selection process for the 2024 Olympic Mixed Double Offshore category which comes in for the Paris games.