A tender vessel used to ferry passengers from some of the world's most luxurious liners into Cork Harbour could be lost to Cork when it goes under the hammer early next month.
The Cill Airne is being put up for sale by Cork Institute of Technology's nautical studies department as it will no longer be required when the National Maritime College of Ireland opens at Ringaskiddy later this year.
The tender was built in the Liffey Dockyard for Cork Harbour Commissioners in 1963 and was licensed to carry up to 1,000 passengers on and off liners such as the QE II and the Mauritania which were too big to come into Cork Harbour.
Auctioneer Mr Dominic Daly, who is handling the sale, said the Cill Airne's engine room was in fine condition as it had been serviced regularly by trainees from the nautical studies department which bought it from Cork Harbour Commissioners in 1972. "We've had a number of expressions of interest from England as well as one from a Pakistani gentleman as well as a number from Dublin and several from Cork. It's hard to know what price she'll fetch. It depends very much what the buyer plans to do with her," said Mr Daly.
"She was used for many years by the nautical studies department. . . to train students. . . But she's now surplus to requirements with the new maritime college at Ringaskiddy," he added.
The Cill Airne, designed by naval architects, Graham and Woolnough of Liverpool, was one of two tenders commissioned for Cork Harbour Commissioners.
The Cill Airne is familiar to Corkonians having been berthed for many years at Custom House Quay. Mr Daly, who is selling the vessel at an auction at the Imperial Hotel in Cork on September 9th, is not ruling out the possibility that it may be retained locally.