The Department of the Marine last night confirmed it was awaiting word from the owners of a luxury cruise liner that the ship had rectified a number of safety concerns before releasing it from detention in Waterford Port.
The Bahamas-registered Seabourn Pride was detained in Waterford on Wednesday evening after inspectors from the Marine Survey Office found the ship had failed to address a number of safety concerns highlighted by British inspectors.
The ship had been inspected by British marine safety inspectors at Falmouth on August 30th, and allowed leave the port on condition the issues would be addressed before it reached Waterford on August 31st.
However, when two inspectors from the Marine Survey Office in Dublin visited the ship in Waterford on August 31st, they found the safety issues had not been addressed and ordered the detention of the luxury cruise liner.
A Department of the Marine spokesman declined to specify the safety issues, but it was learned the concerns arose from a quantity of oil on the engine room floor which inspectors believed posed a fire risk.
According to the department spokesman, details of the detention have been sent to the equivalent department in the Bahamas. This, in turn, will notify the ship's owners of the requirements to address the safety concerns and secure the ship's release.
It is then up to the ship's owners to notify the department the safety concerns have been addressed. Marine Survey Office inspectors will then be invited back on board to see the necessary work has been carried out.
Neither a department spokesman nor a spokesman for the ship's Irish agents, Hamilton Shipping Ltd, was able last night to say when this might happen.
The Seabourn Pride was on the fourth day of an 18-day cruise around Britain, Ireland, Canada and the USA, with a quoted brochure price of £7,600 per person, when she called into Waterford Port at 6am on August 31st.
It is understood the ship has some 170 passengers and a crew of 160 on board. Both passengers and crew are allowed stay on board during the detention.
According to a department spokesman, the detention is the first of a cruise liner in Irish waters, and brings to eight the number of detentions on safety grounds this year.
Last year, there were 33 detentions, with 35 in 2003, he said.