The Naval Service has said the vast majority of 116 people who may have come in contact with potentially lethal asbestos have been medically screened and it will shortly award a contract to experts to carry out a fleet-wide survey for the substance.

A specialist company has started removing asbestos from two Naval Service ships which have been locked down for a number of weeks due to the discovery of the potentially lethal substance onboard.

Workers at the naval dockyard in Haulbowline, Co Cork, have hit out at management for drip-feeding information on the potential exposure to asbestos.

Concerns have been raised about the operational effectiveness of the Naval Service after it emerged that a third vessel has been discovered to have potentially fatal asbestos onboard.

Jim Halligan was diagnosed with asbestosis 19 years ago. “It’s like living with a death sentence hanging over you,” he says. “If you get it, you have it for the rest of your life.”

Civilian workers exposed to potentially deadly asbestos dust will be screened every two years for health defects.

A DEEP-SEA tug towed the stricken super-yacht Rambler 100 to a sheltered cove on the south west coast last night ahead of a major salvage operation today.

TWO brothers are set to make history when they each take command of Irish naval service vessels.

The Irish Navy’s eight ships will each burn the equivalent of €1m worth of oil over the next two years.

MORE THAN 100 people combed cliffs and beaches along the south-east yesterday for two missing fishermen from the Maggie B vessel which sank 8.6 kilometres south of Hook Head on Wednesday.

A Spanish fishing boat has been detained by the Irish naval service.

Five crew members have been airlifted to safety after their trawler, the Fiona Patricia, caught fire off the south coast.