Barry Andrews (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

As the House will be aware, on 11 September the national sail training vessel, Asgard II, sank in the Bay of Biscay off the coast of France. The ship was on a cruise from Falmouth in the United Kingdom to La Rochelle and on board were five crew and 20 trainees, all of whom were evacuated successfully and are safe and well. The decision to abandon the vessel and take to the life rafts was made by the captain because the vessel was taking in water at a far greater rate than the pumps could handle. Weather conditions at the time were moderate and all trainees and crew were rescued by the French lifeboat service and taken to the island of Belle He.

I compliment the captain and crew of Asgard II on the professional manner in which all the trainees were quickly and safely taken off the vessel. I also pay tribute to the French lifeboat service for quickly coming to the location and bringing everybody safely ashore. Following a meeting of the board of Coiste an Asgard and subsequent consultations with insurance company representatives, it was decided to undertake an initial survey of the vessel to establish her status prior to any decisions being made on salvage.

The vessel was recently located on the seabed in 80 m of water, close to where she sank. The initial underwater inspection has been carried out using a remotely operated vehicle. This indicates that the vessel is upright and largely intact. Damage to one of the hull planks has been observed but it is not possible, at this stage, to determine whether this has resulted from impact with the seabed or was the original cause of the sinking. Until further detailed investigations are carried out, it is not possible to state whether Asgard II can be salvaged.

The board of Coiste an Asgard is considering the question of procuring a suitable temporary replacement vessel for Asgard II. In that regard a number of factors must be taken into account, including the suitability of the vessel for sail training, number and qualifications of crew required and operation and maintenance costs. The availability of funding will also be a key factor. At this stage the Minister for Defence is not in a position to indicate when a decision may be made as to whether to procure a temporary replacement vessel. If it is decided to procure a temporary replacement vessel, all options will be considered.

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