It was found washed up in Cork after Storm Dennis
The Alta's ten crew abandoned it in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean 16 months ago after its engines failed.
Nobody was on board when it ran aground about two kilometres west of Ballycotton yesterday.
Cork County Council will inspect the cargo ship today.
It will view it in daylight from a land vantage point to access it further.
Author Edward Bourke is an expert on shipwrecks.
He says the Alta could have drifted on the ocean for a long time if it hadn't been forced ashore.
