Shipyard sinking of Irish trawler

A multi-million-pound Irish mackerel trawler on order for an Aran islander, Mr Des Faherty, sank in an accident at a Norwegian shipyard last week.

The vessel, which is valued between £8 million and £10 million, was due to be delivered in over a month's time. Mr Faherty, one of Ireland's leading mackerel skippers and an accomplished yachtsman, had just completed the deal on his previous supertrawler, Atlantean, when the incident occurred. The vessel is in six metres of water pending efforts to recover it.

It is understood the ship was being moved between the dry dock and the pier when it toppled over. Some 70 tonnes of material had been loaded on the whaleback and water had been pumped into the fish tank area to provide some ballast as the hull was top-heavy. It is understood the engine and some electronics were already installed, compounding the damage to the trawler.

Mr Faherty declined to comment on details yesterday but said delivery would be delayed.

This the latest in a series of incidents involving Irish vessels at shipyards. Recently, a Killybegs-based vessel, Pacelli, was damaged in a fire at a Dutch yard during a refit and it took six hours to control the blaze.

In 1992, the then flagship of the Irish mackerel fleet, Veronica, was destroyed during maintenance work at Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast. A replacement vessel was subsequently purchased at a cost of £25 million in Norway. Its owner has now placed an order for a 142.8-metre freezer trawler, which is due for delivery in August 2000. However, because of its size and capacity, it may never see an Irish port.