Naval Service to increase fishery protection duties

The Naval Service is beginning to increase fishery protection duties having suffered a number of setbacks in recent years.

In 2014 the Naval Service carried out 936 boarding of trawlers, which was nearly half what it managed in 2009.

Problems started surfacing in the fleet in 2013 when it was only able to carry out 994 boardings, compared to 1,329 the previous year.

However, figures for 2015 showed an increase to 1,076, even though the Naval Service was missing one ship for most of the year which was deployed on humanitarian rescue missions in the Mediterranean Sea. LÉ Samuel Beckett, LÉ Niamh and flagship LÉ Eithne rotated on that mission.

The drop in trawler boardings resulted from a number of unexpected issues, especially the discovery of asbestos on some ships.

The presence of the potentially deadly substance onboard ships came as a major surprise to senior officers because in 2000 a private consultancy firm had swept the fleet and given it an asbestos all clear.

LÉ Ciara and LÉ Orla were out of action for several months after specialists were brought in to remove asbestos which had been discovered during routine maintenance. Two other ships were discovered will lower levels of asbestos.

The introduction of new vessels, LÉ James Joyce and LÉ Samuel Beckett, has helped the navy get back on track and another new vessel, which is being built by Babcock Marine in Appledore, Devon.

The ship, William Butler Yates, will arrive in the summer.