THE CAPTAIN of the Asgard II has expressed confidence that the national sail training vessel can be raised from the seabed off north-west France.
Capt Colm Newport, who was responsible for the safe evacuation of all 24 fellow crew and trainees from the vessel last September, hopes that approval for the salvage will be given by Minister for Defence Willie O'Dea after a second survey. Capt Newport confirmed to RTÉ yesterday that the vessel's rigging was largely intact, and said that a salvage partner had been identified after a "fairly lengthy" tendering process.
However, the west Cork based company which is due to carry out a second underwater survey of the ship in mid-January says that trawling in the area could inflict damage upon the hull if it remains much longer on the seabed.
This poses a greater risk to the hull now than weather, according to Karl Bredendieck of Remote Presence underwater survey and inspection. "Trawlers are always attracted to the returns from wreck fishing, and a sail training ship which sank in the same location last year has already been trawled through," he said.
The 42-metre Tho-Pa-Ga wooden schooner, built in Spain in 1924, sank off Brittany last July and is lying in 130 metres of water.
Mr Bredendieck's company carried out the first remote underwater survey of the Asgard II in late September last year, just over a fortnight after the vessel sank 22km west of Belle-Ile while en route to La Rochelle.
"It is a very rocky area, but fortunately the vessel landed in one flat sandy spot, and, remarkably, was standing upright," he said. "There is a regular notice to mariners, but trawlers may still be tempted to fish very close to it," he said.
The vessel was insured for €3.8 million, and its insurers approved a salvage some time ago.
"If the Minister has already decided to leave the Asgard II at the bottom of the ocean, he should say so," Fine Gael defence spokesman Jimmy Deenihan has said. "A three-month delay is inexcusable," he said last month.
Former defence minister Bobby Molloy, who was involved in financing the ship's construction, has also expressed concern about the fate of the vessel.
Mr Molloy told The Irish Timesit was "regrettable" that the Minister had not "acted quickly" on a salvage. "I hope it will be raised sooner rather than later, as it would be a terrible pity for Ireland and for Irish sail training if it was left," Mr Molloy said.
Several marine experts have said that suitable weather windows in the Bay of Biscay area have been missed. The longer the wooden vessel is left underwater, the more difficult the salvage may be and the more expensive it may be to restore, they have said.
The department said that replacement vessels for lease for next year's sail training programme had been examined. No decision would be taken prior to a decision on salvage, a spokesman said.