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SEVENTEEN DAYS AFTER she sank off the coast of Kinsale, the tall ship Astrid is still “holding steady” on the rocks to the east of the town’s harbour. All on board were rescued when the Dutch training vessel’s engine failed and she ran aground on 24 July.
A plan on what to do with the 95-year-old ship is now being finalised. There are safety concerns to consider: an exclusion zone remains in place, with the Crosshaven Coast Guard monitoring the area regularly; and there’s also a worry that thieves may try and access the sunken hull. There were reports last month that the ship’s bell and wheel had been stolen – however, it emerged last night that the rumours were unfounded.
As soon as the Astrid went down, she ceased – legally at least – to be a ship, and became a ‘wreck’. That word – one of the many arcane-sounding words and phrases to be encountered in admiralty law – might conjure up images of treasure chests and piracy: but there are strictly-enforced rules governing who has responsibility for what happens to a ship, once it’s clear that she can’t easily be re-floated.
“The admiralty jurisdiction in the Irish courts is pretty ancient, and while this sort of thing doesn’t happen very often, there are very detailed laws”, barrister Darren Lehane, an expert in maritime law, told TheJournal.ie.
Asked what would happen if someone did take something from the wreck, Lehane says: “You just can’t do that. Anyone who dives down to take a memento from the Astrid would be causing an offence if they didn’t have permission to do so”.
All the rules around this are contained in the Salvage and Wrecks Act of 1993. There are detailed rules as to what constitutes a wreck, as to what constitutes ‘flotsam and jetsam’ – materials which are either thrown off a vessel in an attempt to give it a greater chance of survival, or stuff that comes to the surface after it sinks.
Lehane says the idea that goods lost at sea can be claimed by anyone upon reaching the shore is a complete myth, and gives the example of the cargo that drifted ashore from the MSC Napoli, after the ship got into difficulty in the English Channel in 2007:
People were taking motorbikes out of broken containers off the beach, and the roads were clogged with people trying to take things from the shore. You just can’t do that.
(Another view of the Astrid at dawn, by Jakub Walutek)
In terms of what happens next with the Astrid, the overall responsibility lies with the ‘Receiver of Wreck’ – and official appointed by the Transport Minister with the consent of the the Revenue Commissioners.
“Anytime there’s a wreck in Irish waters it has to be reported to the Receiver within 72 hours”, Lehane explains. “In terms of salvage, which means either raising it, or attempting to minimise the loss to the owner as much as possible, that’s down to the law of salvage, which means that a person can enter into a contract with the owner of the vessel to try and salvage the vessel.”
“If the salvors came to the view that it wasn’t economically viable to raise it, the Receiver of Wreck would have to take a decision in relation to whether it’s causing a hazard to shipping”. If it was found to be dangerous, “then the salvor would enter into an arrangement with the receiver and raise it, whereupon they could sell whatever was on it”.
And in terms of deals that can be made between a salvor and a vessel’s insurers or owners, a variety of arrangements can apply: “People might remember the story of the British vessel, sunk by a German sub in World War Two - millions worth of silver bars were recovered from it recently”.
“In that case the British government entered into an arrangement with the salvor, whereby the contract said the salvage contractor could keep 80 per cent of the profit, once they gave 20 per cent of the profit to the British Government”.
Divers who assessed the Astrid in the wake of its sinking last month told the owners of the Dutch vessel she was unlikely to sail again. However, it’s likely the wreck will be raised from the sea: that operation would be a complex and costly one, involving specialist lifting equipment, and slings placed under the vessel’s hull.
The final plan for the salvage of the Astrid is now nearing completion, a spokesperson for the Department of Transport told TheJournal.ie yesterday. The Coast Guard has been in regular contact with the ship’s insurers in recent weeks, and will sign-off on the plan once it’s ready.
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I doubt if FFG has any more room under the carpet
@Shakka1244: There’s a swing somewhere no-one uses anymore, could hide it there!!!!
@Will Thompson: It’s a magic swing, makes people disappear!
@Will Thompson: Yeah and still get well paid at the same time.
The lack of transparency shows a lack of respect for the public which is disgraceful!
@Nuala Mc Namara: the electorate aren’t worthy of respect. It doesn’t matter what FFG do, they get voted back in again. The public doesn’t hold them to account so why treat them with respect?
The government parties know that they can do whatever they want, whenever they want and get voted back in irregardless so I doubt they care too much.
what happened to the, nothing to fear ,nothing to hide mantra that we’ve been hearing from fg about this card…. publish the report if there’s nothing to hide
The Government need to seriously examine why they are held hostage to bad or unworkable ideas like this one, the National Broadband Plan, the Children’s hospital, the strategy in the MauriceMcCabe saga, the Housing policies that are making things worse, etc, etc, etc. They defend these bad ideas to the death and line up ministers to defend and deny until the bitter end. Admit mistakes were made, learn from them and move on. It’s Ireland anyway. It’s not like admitting mistakes will cost anyone their job.
@Sean: all governments use thinktanks as their special advisers, usually made up the topdogs in finance, media and so forth….it is they that run countries.
@Sean: this government’s broadband, hospital, hse and homeless strategy is going exactly to their plan
@Sean: Everything the FG government does, in collusion with it’s coalition partners FF, is done according to policy decisions driven by FFG’s political dogma. FG are hostage to nothing but their political dogma.
FG have always despised the poor, the low paid, the less well off, the unemployed. They don’t govern on their behalf, they rule over ordinary people for the benefit of the rich, foreign private investor corporations, corporate interests. The IMF oversees any decisions the FG minority government makes. The IMF, the world’s privateers and asset strippers, dictate policy as agreed with Noonan to sustain the rotten and corrupt banking system in the country.
FG have no mandate to force such policies on the country. When you go into a GE after being part of a coalition government and you lose 26 seats in that GE you have lost any mandate to govern. This FG minority government is sustained by way of secret backroom deals made with a party that is bound by the constitution to oppose the government and hold it to account for the decisions it makes. That makes a total mockery of the democratic process in the country. FG and their partners in government,FF, don’t make mistakes. Everything is deliberate and according to plan.
This is ridiculous at this stage, whos behind this? Whos benefiting? I guarantee there is absolutely no benefits to the taxpayer but someone is benefiting. Fg are so belligerent about this and it stinks of a scandal and/or tribunal down the road
@Thomas Maher: it’s definitely gonna cost the state in payouts.
@Thomas Maher: If you say nothing I’ll give you half of this big brown envelope I just happened to find!
@Thomas Maher: The benefit for government is the potential for control over the lives of the citizens of Ireland.
@Thomas Maher: A great FF benefactor is the beneficiary!
Why would they . They are spinna gael
@Leo Lalor: Another minister incapable of the position they were appointed to.
It will be interesting to see how the Facilitraitor Party reacts?
Time to remove FG labour FF from Irish politics, 10 years this has gone on and now the countrys data protection agency is being attacked by them for telling the truth, they have behaved illegally.
@@mdmak33: What are they hiding??? Who got the contracts?
@TamuMassif2019: the same people that make the passport, the very thing they are making it compulsory for, how odd!
@Commentator: So you think that they be charging a massive fee for these cards next??? lol.
@TamuMassif2019: @ 60 mill I reckon they’ve already done that!
Can I ask a question. Maybe I’m totally off the wall but what are peoples problems with having a card with all their information on it ? Wouldn’t it make it easier for dealing with all depts eventually and rather than having to fill out forms and bring lots of stuff with you all you would need is the card ? I know there is a fear of the information being accessed improperly but surely if this was safeguarded everything would be ok. Move with the times and all that
@Declan Moran: you’re new here, aren’t you?
@Declan Moran: most people don’t have a problem with such a card. What most people have a problem with was the PSC’s compulsory nature; the fact that passports or driving licences – both legal and valid forms of ID – were to no longer be accepted; the way it was handled in that it was de facto a national ID card but without any legal basis; the fact that the government refused to debate it in the Dáil; and the fact that the government has already proven that they cannot safeguard the privacy of the information held on these cards. As for “rather than having to fill out forms and bring lots of stuff with you” – well, you still had to do that.
@Brian Ó Dálaigh: thanks Brian. I hadn’t the energy.
@Brian Ó Dálaigh: if you’re not adopted, an immigrant in dp, etc etc
@Mike Rugby Nuts: I feel like I’m missing the entire second half of your sentence. What point are you making about if “you’re not adopted, an immigrant in dp [sic]?”
@Brian Ó Dálaigh: dp is Direct Provision, I was too weary of FFG to finish that sentence.
@Mike Rugby Nuts: I figured that much out the first time around. Your sentence still makes no sense to me. What about adoption or immigration are you trying to say, and how do they relate to the PSC?
F them all out.
Everyone should just sue the department and the government.
@The Irish Bull: Good man and make all our lawyers billionaires.
Remove FFG..
It’s all very clear since the report went into the hands of the government that they intend to continue on with this illegal instrument. It didn’t matter what the DPC had to say in the report, it never mattered that legal experts told the government time and time again that there is no legal basis for this card, that people’s right to protection on their private and personal data and it’s abuse by this FG minority government was being ignored.
FG want this Biometric National ID Card by the back door as the means to control the lives of its citizens. Just as in India, the Aadhaar Card, the nation ID card there is being used illegally by the Indian government. The card has put the people of that country under the most draconian and intrusive surveillance. It will be put to the same use in Ireland if this government isn’t stopped.
It is as clear as day that this PSC is no benign instrument in the hands of this minority government and they will fight tooth and nail to keep it and to hell with the legalities.
Keep the Peasants in the dark
@Geoff Bateman: Under foot in the mud?
Sure why would they do the right thing, these mutants of FFG know full well that the deluded supporters they have who are stuck in the me fein, parish pump minset, will still vote them in no matter what
So much for our democracy! Openness, transparency my foot!!
So how much can I sue them for?
@Harry Trafford: The legal eagles reckon the payout for anyone that sues over the PSC is in the region of 15,000 euro.
Another mess covered up
There’s a great book called IBM and the Holocaust by Edwin Black. It describes what happens when the government knows too much about the citizens.
This govt believe they are answerable to nobody. Who Fianna FAIL. Sure they say nothing. Toothless. And the rest. Hmmmm
have your say