(Pic: Damien Kelleher)

SIX WEEKS AFTER it ran aground off the Cork coast, Tall Ship Astrid has been towed into Kinsale Harbour.

A floating crane managed to haul the 250-tonne Dutch vessel onto a barge yesterday evening and it was brought into the harbour this morning.

Hugh Barry pollution and salvages officer with the Irish Coast Guard said the ship was taken into “more sheltered water so it could be checked by the Marine Casualty Investigations Board”.

Salvage experts and surveyors from a Dutch insurance company arrived in Kinsale this morning to review the damage.

“Locals are glad to see it has been taken off the rocks, but it’s a bit of an eyesore in harbour,” Barry admitted to TheJournal.ie.

The vessel ran aground of the Kinsale coast almost six weeks ago on July 24.

All 30 people on-board the training ship were rescued safely.

TS Astrid gets towed to Kinsale. (Pic: Michael Walsh)

Operation to lift the Astrid from the sea should be completed by next week>

So, it turns out the Astrid bell and wheel weren’t stolen…>

Pictures: Stunning photos capture wreck of Tall Ship Astrid at dawn>