An individual claiming to represent the owner of the MV Alta has made contact with the Revenue Commissioners.

A Revenue spokesperson said the Receiver of Wreck will be pursuing the matter further.

The MV Alta is currently on rocks near Ballycotton in Co Cork after running aground during Storm Dennis on Sunday.

The 80-metre vessel ship was abandoned by its crew more than a year ago in the Atlantic Ocean.

Anyone who lays claim to the vessel has one year to establish their claim.

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Marine contractors boarded the vessel at low tide this morning to carry out a pollution risk assessment.

A small amount of fuel was found in tanks, but there was no cargo on board.

It followed a request from Cork County Council and the Irish Coast Guard.


The MV Alta had been drifting in the Atlantic for more than a year

Surveyors were unable to check all of the ship's fuel tanks because some of them were in inaccessible compartments that have been flooded by sea water.

Arrangements are now being put in place to pump out these tomorrow so that contractors can finish the risk assessment.

It is understood the vessel had 80,000 litres of marine gas oil on board when it left Greece for Haiti 16 months ago.

The council is increasingly concerned at reports that members of the public have boarded the wreck, which it said was "extremely dangerous and could pose a risk to life".

It is also asking members of the public to stay away from the vessel location as it is located along a dangerous and inaccessible stretch of coastline, which is also in an unstable condition.

The vessel washed up on the Irish coast on Sunday

The vessel remains in a precarious position lodged on rocks in an inlet on the outskirts of Ballycotton.

Cork County Council's Oil Spill Assessment Team met again this lunchtime to discuss the marine contractor's initial findings.

In a statement issued this afternoon, it said consultations on the future of the wreck are continuing between the local authority, the Irish Coast Guard and the Receiver of Wreck.

The council said it "remains satisfied there is currently no visible pollution" within the Ballycotton Bay Special Protection Area.

On 2 September last year, the Royal Navy's ice patrol ship, HMS Protector, posted on Twitter that its crew had spotted Alta in the middle of the Atlantic.

The tweet said there was nobody on board and the ship looked like she was derelict for some time.

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