Man arrested as 'monster trawler' detained in Cork for alleged fishing offences 

A man has been arrested after a ship labelled a 'monster trawler' by Greenpeace was detected by a European Union fisheries agency in Irish waters and detained in Cork for alleged fishing offences.

The German-registered, 117m-long Helen Mary has been involved in multiple alleged fisheries breaches internationally and was detained in Tivoli dock on Monday.

Gardaí received a report of alleged fishery breaches in the Port of Cork this morning.

“A man in his 40s has been arrested and is being detained under the provisions of the Fisheries and Maritime Jurisdiction Act 2006,” a Garda statement said.

“The investigation is ongoing.” 

The Helen Mary, which is almost 117m long and almost 18m wide, is registered to the port of Rostock in Germany. She is a factory trawler — a vessel which can process its catch onboard. In 2019, the ship was detained in Scotland on suspected fishery offences.

And in 2020, Greenpeace activists boarded the supertrawler and stopped it from fishing in what they said was a protected area east of Scotland.

The Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority (SFPA) in Ireland said that on Sunday, officers onboard a European Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA) patrol boat detected suspected infringements of European fisheries legislation.

This involved a sea-fishing vessel in the Irish Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

The operation was conducted by the EFCA, which is a European Union agency that protects and promotes the EU Common Fisheries Policy, under a Joint Deployment Plan.

“The Joint Deployment Plans (JDP) framework provides the legal basis where the relationships of joint deployment of inspections assets/inspectors are set and are applicable to all assets of the concerned Member States and EFCA,” a statement from the SFPA said.

“When operating in EU waters, the EFCA inspectors always have Union Inspectors from Members States onboard and they are the leading inspectors.

“The vessel has been directed to Cork port.” 

The EFCA patrol boat, the Ocean Protector, boarded the Helen Mary off the southwest coast on Sunday. It was escorted to the deepwater Tivoli dock just outside Cork City, where it has been detained today.

A major search of the ship, its cargo and documentation is now underway.

A defective pilot ladder may have been involved in the suspected infringement of maritime law, sources say.

A pilot ladder is a heavy rope ladder dropped down the side of the ship to allow people – including fisheries inspectors – to board from other vessels while at sea.

There are strict regulations around this specialised equipment to allow people to safely board and disembark a vessel.

People have been killed as recently as 2023 due to unsafe pilot ladders.

The Helen Mary is on Greenpeace's list of 20 ‘monster boats’ which the organisation says are examples of the most destructive and oversized fishing vessels operating under European flags, ownership or management.

The Helen Mary was built in 1996 and has a gross tonnage of 7278 tons.

It has a fishholding capacity of 6,900m3.

“With its massive fishing capacity, the vessel has played part in overfishing on a global scale,” the Greenpeace website states.

Paul Musiol from Greenpeace EU told the Irish Examiner: “Helen Mary is a huge supertrawler, a massive freezer trawler measuring more than 100m. 

"Supertrawlers can catch hundreds of tonnes of fish using enormous nets and their fishing methods affect vulnerable ecosystems, threatened species and the catches of small-scale fishers. 

"It’s crucial for the EU and all governments to protect important and sensitive marine areas and manage fisheries sustainably."

Mr Musiol called for the enforcement of fisheries laws to protect ocean ecosystems and maintain the livelihoods of coastal communities. 

"And governments can take other steps to ensure we protect 30% of our global oceans by 2030. They must follow in the footsteps of the 17 countries, including France and Spain, that have already ratified the Global Ocean Treaty,” he said.