Yacht barges into salmon pen in Ireland
Mowi mobilises resources to remove vessel after incident at post-smolt site in County Mayo
Salmon farmer Mowi Ireland was this afternoon preparing to empty two pens of fish before attempting to free a vintage 30-metre yacht that ran over the top of one of the pens and came to rest inside the other one.
Catherine McManus, operations director farming for Mowi Ireland, said dive teams has inspected the pens and confirmed the nets below the surface were undamaged following the incident, although they will still be replaced with new nets before the fish are returned.
The incident involving the Rara Avis, a flat-bottomed schooner modelled after Thames barge lines, happened in the early hours of today at the Portlee Smolt site, Clare Island, at the entrance to Clew Bay in County Mayo.
25 on board
There were 25 French people on the boat, and no reported injuries. Some of those on board have already been taken to Clare Island, and the rest were being ferried there this afternoon.
The steel-hulled Rara Avis was built in the Netherlands for a wealthy American banker in 1957, and later sold to a French owner before being donated in 1973 to an association aiding young adults and rehabilitation through sailing.
Because the vessel has a flat bottom, it is hoped it can be removed from the pen in the same it came in, over the side. “We have barges on standby to try and tow out this vessel out of this pen,” explained McManus.
The pens contain 100,000 post-smolts with an average weight of 500 grams which will be removed for their safety while the schooner is removed.
The Inter Atlantic, a wellboat with a capacity of 2,200m³, was today travelling north from a site in the south of Ireland and was expected to arrive at Clare Island to begin loading the fish at around 5.30 pm.
After the pens have been emptied, the Rara Avis’s skipper, engineer, and another crew member will return to the vessel and an attempt will be made to tow it out of the pen.
Although the nets below the surface were undamaged, the Rara Avis tore netting on the walkway above the water and damaged bird netting as it crashed through the first pen and into the second. Farm technicians have already managed to repair the walkway netting, but bird netting is being replaced.
