Special service for LÉ Emer’s demise

The Naval Service will hold a special decommissioning service on the LÉ Emer next Friday and the vessel is to be sold off through public auction on Oct 23.

A Naval Service spokesman said the decommissioning ceremony will be held at Custom House Quay in Cork at 4.30pm and it was hoped it would be attended by Minister for Defence Alan Shatter and Minister for the Marine Simon Coveney.

Flag Officer Commanding the Naval Service Commodore Mark Mellett will oversee the event which will involve removing the vessel’s flag. The spokesman added that it was hoped to invite as many of the ship’s former crew as possible to the ceremony.

The LÉ Emer, which was built at Verolme Dockyard in Cobh in 1978, will be sold off at public auction in the Carrigaline Court Hotel.

The auction, which is being carried out by Dominic Daly, will get under way at noon.

Mr Daly said he’d had seven firm expressions of interest to date from the Mediterranean area, Scandinavia and Africa.

He said he expected prospective buyers would be looking at using LÉ Emer for security purposes, or to convert her into a luxury yacht.

The last Naval Service vessel to be auctioned off was the LÉ Deirdre.

Mr Daly acquired £190,000 (€226, 917) for her in Jun 2001.

She was the first vessel purpose built for the navy and was again constructed in Verolme dockyard.

“She had been out of service for some time before she was sold. The LÉ Emer is a more modern vessel and she’s in perfect mechanical order, so we’d be hoping to get a lot more money for her,” the auctioneer said.

The LÉ Emer has a colourful history. In 1979, the year she was commissioned, she became the first Naval Service vessel to re-supply troops serving with the UN in Lebanon.

In 1984 the 65m ship played a significant role in detention of the trawler, Marita Ann, which she stopped after warning shots across her bows. The trawler was carrying a significant quantity of arms and ammunition.

Meanwhile, Mr Daly has also been asked to auction off the LÉ Aoife which will be decommissioned towards the end of next year.

Both vessels are to be replaced by larger ships which are being built at a shipyard in Appledore, Devon.