Smuggler’s ship sunk as Ireland’s first artificial reef

Screengrab from the Ocean Sands Hotel’s YouTube video of the Shingle’s sinking (@theoceansandshotelenniscro800/YouTube)

A former smuggling ship has been sunk off the coast of Ireland as the nation’s first-ever artificial reef. The MV Shingle, a 60m-long steel-hulled cargo vessel was sunk in Killala Bay, located on the western coast of Ireland between County Mayo and County Sligo.

Shingle was seized by the Revenue Commissioners – the equivalent of the UK’s Revenue and Customs – while it was en route from Slovenia to Drogheda, Co Louth, in 2014.

Advertisement

She was carrying 32 million cigarettes and 4.5 tonnes of tobacco, a cargo which, if sold on the black market, would have amounted to a loss of some €14 million in tax revenue for the Irish Exchequer.

In 2017 the High Court ordered the vessel to be forfeited to the Irish State, and she has remained in the custody of the Revenue Commission ever since, first moored in Dublin and later the port of New Ross in County Wexford, from where she was towed to Killala Bay.

Unfortunately, Shingle was in such a state of disrepair, with a rusting hull and filled with asbestos, that she was unfit to be sold and too expensive to scrap, and has since been costing the Irish government millions of Euros in port fees and maintenance costs.

The ship was sunk as part of a partnership between the Revenue Commissioners, Mayo and Sligo County Councils, and a local group known as Killala Bay Ships 2 Reef (KBS2R), headed up by diver and Mayo County Councillor Michael Loftus, of the Grainne Uaile Sub Aqua Club.

Loftus and Ships 2 Reef had first proposed the sinking of an artificial reef to support tourism and marine conservation as far back as 2008.

‘We have been diving all over the world and seen wrecks in Malta, Cyprus and the Caribbean, and we knew we have the ideal spot right here,’ said Loftus. ‘Revenue heard we needed a ship and they needed to get rid of one. It was an ideal situation.’

It cost approximately €2 million to strip out all the asbestos, oil and chemicals and make the ship environmentally sound before towing her from New Ross, however, Cllr Loftus expects that the money will be recouped within a relatively short space of time.

‘We expect that this money that they have spent on it will actually be paid back within a three-year period from diving, tourism, fishing tourism, and marine research,’ said Loftus. ‘We hope that colleges and universities around Ireland will use this as a marine vehicle for research.’

With the hull resting at just 29m of depth in Killala Bay, the wreck of the MV Shingle will be easily accessible to divers with relatively little experience and above.

‘The creation of Ireland’s first ­marine artificial reef is a new and exciting initiative and is a testament to the power of partnership and the dedication of all involved,’ said Chief executive of Mayo County Council, Kevin Kelly.

‘This new artificial reef will not only enrich our marine ­environment, it will also provide exciting new opportunities for tourism, recreation, and marine research for years to come.’

The sinking of MV Shingle was livestreamed on the YouTube page of the Ocean Sands Hotel in Enniscrone, Sligo

Filed under: Briefing
Tagged with: Ireland, Wreck Diving


h
Scroll to Top