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ASGARD II SALVAGE PLAN
ASGARD II Salvage Plan
Posted by: "Irish Sea Shipping"
Mon Nov 24, 2008 11:38 am (PST)
Plan to raise Asgard II from watery grave
A plan to raise Asgard II, which is lying at the bottom of the sea off the French coast, will be presented to the cabinet before Christmas. Willie O'Dea, the defence minister, hopes to commission a salvage company toraise the government's training vessel so that it can be restored.
Officials are in negotiations with a specialist firm which submitted a "favourable" tender to raise the ship, which was designed in the 1980s by Jack Tyrrell from Wicklow.
If a deal is agreed, the company could raise the vessel from the seabed asearly as next spring, weather and tidal conditions permitting. The operation could be paid for using money from the ship's insurance policy.
Asgard II was covered by Allianz, an international firm, for ^3.8m. The Department of Defence is confident a full insurance payout would cover the entire cost of the salvage operation and a refit of the vessel if it is successfully refloated.
A survey of the sunken ship by a Remotely Operated Vehicle in September showed that Asgard II is largely intact and could be saved, although it lies under 80 metres of water 31 km off the French coast in the Bay of Biscay.
O'Dea told the Dail that the underwater survey found damage to one of the ship's hull planks, but it was not possible to determine whether this hadresulted from impact with the seabed, or had caused the sinking.
The spot on the seabed where it ended up, with a sandy bottom and no rock formations, is thought to have helped to keep the vessel's hull intact.
"It is hoped that a deal can be reached some time next week to begin the process of raising Asgard II," said a government source. "The minister believes the vessel is a national treasure and it's his intention to present an action plan to the cabinet which would see the ship being raised and restored.
"He has made no secret of the fact that he wants to save Asgard II if possible."
The cost of commissioning a new sail ship would far exceed the insurance payout, and would reach ^10m if an exact replica was created. That is unlikely, given the state of the public finances. The vessel was bought by the state for ^635,000 in 1981.
O'Dea's plan is supported by the board of Coiste an Asgard, the committee which maintained and operated the state owned vessel before it sank enroute to La Rochelle to participate in a maritime festival last September.
It was due to undergo routine maintenance work in France but, according to the Department of Defence, was in excellent seafaring condition. Some marine experts believe the sinking may have been caused by a collision with a
freight container which fell off a merchant ship.
Another possibility is that a sea cock, a valve that controls the flow of water between the vessel's exterior and interior, ruptured and flooded the vessel, forcing its captain to abandon ship and order his crew into life rafts.
O'Dea is expected to receive a full report on the cause of the accident in the coming months from the Marine Casualty Investigation Board, a government agency. The French authorities are also expected to file a report on the accident.
Suzanne Coogan, a defence spokeswoman, said a decision on the tendering process was likely to be made shortly.