A deserted cruise liner which is believed to have been drifting around the North Atlantic for a year carrying nothing but hordes of rats could be heading for British shores, it has been claimed
A deserted cruise ship crawling with cannibal rats is feared to be heading
towards Britain, marine experts revealed.
The 300ft Lyubov Orlova has been floating around the North Atlantic since
being set adrift off the Canadian coast a year ago and coastguards believe a
series of storms blowing in from the west have driven her thousands of miles
towards UK shores, according to The
Sun.
Since being abandoned by her crew, it is feared the 40-year-old Soviet vessel
may have become home to hordes of rats, which would have had to eat each
other to survive.
(Getty Images)
Originally built to carry 110 passengers to remote locations in the arctic,
the boat was impounded in Newfoundland in a debts row in 2010 and her unpaid
crew walked out.
She remained in port for two years before orders came in to tow her to the
Dominican Republic to be scrapped.
When the tow line to a tug broke in stormy conditions in January last year, the Canadian government ordered another ship to haul her out to sea and cut her loose.
The 4,250-tonne ship’s position remains unknown despite several attempts to find her.
In March last year satellites identified a mystery object large enough to be the ship off the north west coast of Scotland but search planes found nothing.
Salvage hunters are keen to trace the liner in order to cash in upon her £600,000 scrap value.
Pim de Rhoodes, a Belgian-based marine missions specialist who is looking for the Lyubov Orlova, told The Sun: “She is floating around out there somewhere.
“There will be a lot of rats and they eat each other. If I get aboard I’ll have to lace everywhere with poison.”
Experts believe the boat is still afloat because her four life-raft transmitters have not been set off as they would if she sunk.
Two distress beacons were activated last March but they are thought to have come from life rafts which broke away from the ship and fell into the ocean.
The ship is most likely to make landfall on the west coast of Ireland, Scotland or Cornwall.
Irish coastguard chief Chris Reynolds said: “There have been huge storms in recent months but it takes a lot to sink a vessel as big as that. We must stay vigilant.”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/10591704/Ghost-ship-carrying-cannibal-rats-could-be-heading-for-Britain.html
When the tow line to a tug broke in stormy conditions in January last year, the Canadian government ordered another ship to haul her out to sea and cut her loose.
The 4,250-tonne ship’s position remains unknown despite several attempts to find her.
In March last year satellites identified a mystery object large enough to be the ship off the north west coast of Scotland but search planes found nothing.
Salvage hunters are keen to trace the liner in order to cash in upon her £600,000 scrap value.
Pim de Rhoodes, a Belgian-based marine missions specialist who is looking for the Lyubov Orlova, told The Sun: “She is floating around out there somewhere.
“There will be a lot of rats and they eat each other. If I get aboard I’ll have to lace everywhere with poison.”
Experts believe the boat is still afloat because her four life-raft transmitters have not been set off as they would if she sunk.
Two distress beacons were activated last March but they are thought to have come from life rafts which broke away from the ship and fell into the ocean.
The ship is most likely to make landfall on the west coast of Ireland, Scotland or Cornwall.
Irish coastguard chief Chris Reynolds said: “There have been huge storms in recent months but it takes a lot to sink a vessel as big as that. We must stay vigilant.”
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