Asgard II sinks in the Bay of Biscay - Update

It has been reported this morning (10/09/2008) that the Irish sail training ship Asgard II has now sunk in Bay of Biscay after taking in water and sending out a distress call. The crew were brought to safety earlier this morning..

According to RTÉ News the sailing vessel went down at 08.25 local time (7.25am Irish time) some 20 nautical miles from the French coast, south west of the island of Belle-Île-en-Mer.

The Asgard had been en route from the Cornish port of Falmouth to La Rochelle in France where it was due to undergo minor maintenance.
The alarm was raised and the distress signal was picked up by the UK Marine Coastguard at Kinloss in Scotland.

It has been reported that the 5 crew and 20 trainees (most of them Irish) were rescued by a French naval ship and taken to Belle-Île-en-Mer off the French coast where they are safe.

Most Cork people will remember the Asgard II best from the Tall Ships Race of 1991 but she has been a regular visitor to the port since she went into service after completion in 1981. It was at the time of the Tall Ships race that the Cork singer / songwriter Jimmy Crowley wrote the song "My Love is a Tall Ship" dedicated to the Asgard.

The name "Asgard" resonates through Irish history. The original Asgard, owned by Erskine Childers Snr, was used in the Howth gun-running incident of 1914 in which German guns were imported into Ireland for use in the uprising which eventually took place in 1916. The first Asgard (from the Norse name for the "home of the gods") sailed to Hamburg with Childers, his wife Mary and two others to to collect the guns which were landed in Howth in July 1914. Childers was later executed during the Irish Civil War in 1922. His son Erskine Jr. was to go on to become President of Ireland.

In 1968 the Asgard I was bought by the Irish government who established the Coiste an Asgard as a new sail-training authority and the ship was used for training young people in navigation and seamanship until it was retired and replaced by Asgard II. The first Asgard is now being restored but it is unlikely it will ever take to sea again.

Asgard II, a 106 foot brigantine, was built by Tyrell's Boatyard of Arklow, County Wicklow, under the personal supervision of designer, the late Jack Tyrell.

The loss of the Asgard is a huge blow to Ireland, not just because of her importance in sail-training but as a symbol of this country and the good work she has done in promoting tourism she has also been involved in work with a social element along with involvement in research and environment.

It is of course very good news that the crew of Asgard II are safe. We still don't know if there is any possiblity of raising the vessel. That will, no doubt emerge in time.

More talks, still no ferry - could "Yellow Pack" be on the cards?

The clock contines ticking as to whether we will have a passenger / freight ferry between Cork and Swansea next year as talks and tentative negotiations begin. Today's newspapers are reporting that the Port of Cork and Associated British Ports have agreed an incentive package to encourage an operator to sign up for the route which has been without a service for two years now.

There is no specific information as to what type of incentives would be on offer but much is made of the additional journey for freight through other routes and even the increased carbon dioxide levels due to the extra road freight is under scrutiny. A Port of Cork source is quoted in today's Irish Examiner as say that around 10,000 units (containers) a year were transported by the previous operator Swansea-Cork Ferries.

The Old Blog Cabin has strongly supported the return of a service on this route but we would not favour a "yellow pack" operator. It is not so long since more than 500 jobs were slashed by Irish Ferries who replaced unionised workers with low-paid migrant workers from Eastern Europe who had to settle for lesser pay and minimal conditions of employment due to EU law which facilitates this and which is even strengthened by the Lisbon Treaty which the Irish government and EU want to bring in by the back door having been democratically rejected by the Irish people in the June 12th referendum. It would be disingenuous of the Old Blog Cabin to support the International Transport Federation's campaign on "flags of convenience" and not take a stand on the cheap labour route for any ferry on the Cork-Swansea route. Once again we call for the local authorities in conjunction with government to take over the route themselves.

New Irish ships should fly the Irish flag

There was an interesting letter in yesterday's Irish Examiner (5th Sept 2008) from a retired inspector of the International Transport Federation, Mr. Tony Ayton, once again highlighting the scandal of "Flags of Convenience", i.e. ships owned in one country but operating from another where tax, labour and safety regulations are more relaxed. I have highlighted this scandal in previous entries on The Old Blog Cabin.

Mr Ayton in his letter welcomed the fact that seven Irish based shipping companies were investing in new or second hand vessels this year, with the benefit of Irish government concessions. Some 21 such vessels are to be purchased this year with another 27 over the next two years. However the former ITF inspector also expressed his hope, rather than expectectation, that the ships would be registered in this country.

To quote Mr. Ayton: "I fear a lot of them will end up just like many beneficially-owned Irish ships do today operating under the notorious flag of convenience system.

This is a system where shipowners are allowed to register and flag their ships in countries that, in exchange for the registration fees, offer a minimum of laws and regulations that have to be applied and which take little or no interest in how the crews of these ships are treated. Consequently, a large proportion of the jobs that this investment will create could be at exploitative wage rates and miserable working conditions".

In January of this year the Irish government, through Minister Noel Dempsey, met with the International Transport Federation and assured them of the government's determination to do something about Flags of Convenience. Let us hope that they will live up to this promise and ensure that these new ships will comply with the best standards in safety and labour law and pay the proper rate for the job to their crews. Otherwise Mr. Dempsey's assurances will have been nothing more than another bunch of empty promises

The Future of Spike Island

A well attended public seminar took place in the harbour town of Cobh yesterday (30/08/08) to discuss the future of historic Spike Island in Cork Harbour which has at various times over the past 1,500 years served as a monastic settlement, Viking base, military fortification, convict base, emmigrant centre, famine home and graveyard, naval base and juvenile detention centre.


Organised by Cork County Council and Spike Island Heritage Committee to coincide with Heritage Week 2008, the meeting was addressed by a wide variety of speakers dealing with different aspects of the island's past and proposed future. There was also a photographic exhibition of life on Spike Island over the past century or so.

Local historian, heritage tour operator and chairman of the Spike Island Heritage Commmittee Michael Martin spoke on the history of the island since at least the 6th century; archaeologist Dan Noonan spoke on the initial findings of archaelogical inspection of various sites on the island; marine archaeologist Connie Kelleher described her inspection of various marine wrecks in the area and raised the possibility of the island someday housing a national maritime museum of world standards, tourism consultant Frank Donaldson spoke about another of the Irish Treaty ports, the military emplacements at Lonehort on Bere Island in West Cork; John Hennessy of the Great Island Historical Society spoke about island life on Spike in the 1940s and 1950s, Cobh Tourism chairman Hendrik Verwey dealt with future proposals and possibilities for Spike while Edward Buckley of Great Island Historical Society gave an interesting lecture about Ogham writing (Ireland's ancient Celtic alphabet) and the importance of the Irish language to this country. A number of local politicians and public figures also attended and there were several contributions from the floor (including yours truly).

It was encouraging to see a large attendance at the seminar on a Saturday afternoon in August and shows there is huge interest in local history and heritage and people in Cobh and the harbour area are genuinely interested in the future of such places as Spike Island.

Bits & Pieces

It's been a few weeks since the Old Blog Cabin was updated so I will summarise this posting.

During the week it emerged that the Port of Cork is now looking again at the option of Marino Point near Cobh as the location of the new container terminal for the port. There seemed to be a marked reluctance by the port authority to look at this site when they were initially looking for a location for the container terminal which had outgrown its Tivoli site near Cork city. The former Irish Fertiliser Industries (IFI) site which already has a natural deepwater basin came on the market after IFI was closed down some years ago and could have been bought at the time. To buy it now would cost a lot more. Ringaskiddy is not completely gone as an option but the lack of a rail link may prove to be an insurmountable obstacle. We will watch for further developments with interests.

There are a number of cruise liners coming to Cork Port over the next week or so. Le Diamant is currently at Cork's North Custom House Quay while Century is due in Cobh in the early hours of tomorrow morning to be followed by the enormous Independence of the Seas making her third visit to Cobh on Saturday while Artemis visits the following Friday, 29th August.

On a sad note I would like to pay tribute to my friend Denis O'Connor who died suddenly last Friday. Denis was a docker at the ferry terminal at Ringaskiddy and a leading trade union representative in SIPTU. He was also a member of the Workers' Party and many other organisations. He had a strong interest in all things maritime and was a regular visitor to this blog. May he rest in peace.