An Abandoned Russian Cruise Ship Infested With 'Cannibal Rats' Could Soon Crash Into Britain

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Lyubov Orlova 4

Rick Derevan

The Lyubov Orlova during better times.

An abandoned Russian cruise ship, the Lyubov Orlova, has been drifting aimlessly in the north Atlantic for nearly a year, after breaking free from its towing line last January.

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But the empty vessel may now be making its way back to land, thanks to heavy winter winds that are pushing it toward the British coast, according to a report from The Sun.

Landlubbers don't have much to look forward to if the ghost ship does reach the shores of Ireland, Scotland, or England. The Sun reports that the Lyubov Orlova's only occupants are hundreds of diseased, cannibal rats.

Despite warning alarms, coastguards in Ireland and the United Kingdom say they have received no reported sightings of the ship since last April, according to the BBC.

"Any 'ghost' ship entering European waters is highly likely to be reported due to the large number of vessels passing through the area," the U.K's Maritime and Coastguard Agency said in a statement reported by the Plymouth Herald, adding, "We would then act accordingly."

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As recently as 2007, the Orlova operated as an expedition ship that took tourists to the Arctic.

The ship was seized from its Russian owner in 2010 over unpaid fees. It remained tied up in Canadian waters for more than two years before being sold for scrap metal. The vessel was on its way from Canada to a scrapyard in the Dominican Republic when its towing cable snapped and the ship escaped.