Steel replica may replace Asgard II

DEFENCE Minister Willie O’Dea has been advised it may be cheaper to build a steel replica of the Asgard II rather than raise the wooden wreck form the sea bed.

Coiste an Asgard, the committee which manages the sail training programme, made the proposal four months after the ship sank off north-west France.

The 25-strong crew was safely evacuated and rescued by the French emergency services as the 27-year-old brigantine went down.