A tourism project in Co. Mayo is waiting to hear if a decision will lead it to receiving a licence to tow a small ship into Killala Bay as part of a plan to create an artificial reef, reports the Western People.

The vessel at just 669 tonnes, Afloat.ie highlights was centre-stage in 2014 when Irish authorities seized the ship in a major smuggling operation at Drogheda Port.

In the last five years, Killala Bay Ships 2 Reef Ltd has been working to get the MV Shingle towed to Killala Bay, to enable the 42 year-old ship to be sunk and create what would be the first artificial reef in Ireland. The bay is located between counties Mayo and Sligo.

On the River Barrow, last Tuesday, the 60m ship went into the 70m dry dock at New Ross Boatyard. The facility downriver of the Co. Wexford inland port of New Ross, is where the vessel is to be either scrapped or prepared to be towed to Killala Bay for sinking.

To proceed with such an action, the Killala Bay Ship 2 Reef, requires a Maritime Area Consent (MAC) licence from the Maritime Regulatory Authority (MARA). Last November, an application was submitted, but a decision is awaited.

Commenting on the development, Councillor Michael Loftus said they are hopeful about the MAC licence. “The Revenue Commissioners have been working with us to get the best outcome for the Shingle, creating Ireland's first artificial reef that will generate a major attraction and financial benefit in Mayo and Sligo. It would be a major mistake if the Shingle were to be scrapped because of a delay in getting the MAC's licence from MARA. Time is running out.”

It was almost a year ago when the MV Shingle was finally towed out of Dublin Port from where it had been idle for almost a decade, following the vessel's relocation from the Co. Meath port.

A small ship that had been languishing in Dublin Port for almost a decade is at the centre of a plan that is progressing to sink the vessel off the north coast of Mayo in order to create an artificial reef.

The MV Shingle of only 669 tonnes was seized by Gardai and Customs officers when they discovered the 60m cargo ship was being used in an illegal cigarette smuggling operation in 2014.

The white hulled vessel with yellow cargo handling derricks was impounded in June of that year when armed gardai discovered a 4,000kg shipment of tobacco when at Drogheda Port. The contraband was given a street value of €13 million.

The smuggling incident which had also involved a Naval Service patrol vessel, Revenue Customs cutters and overseas law enforcement agencies, represented the biggest seizure of cigarettes in Europe that year. The ship had loaded the contraband in Slovenia and then called to Portugal before proceeding to Irish waters.

Soon after the Shingle was arrested and escorted to the Co.Louth port, Afloat adds, the vessel was relocated to Dublin Port for further examination. As for the ship's port of registry, Giurgiulești, this is the only Moldovan port on the river Danube that enters the Black Sea, however the ship would remain for years on the banks of the river Liffey, see related berthing fees story.

Initially the Shingle in Dublin Port was allocated a berth within Alexandra Basin, then to the river bank at the North Wall Quay Extension in sight of commuters using the East-Link toll-bridge before the small ship shifted berths back to the basin.

In more recent years, the 1982 built Shingle was offered free of charge by the Revenue Commission and there is a proposal to scuttle the vessel in Killala Bay. The project is to enable an artificial reef to be created and attract divers and tourists to the West.

According to Cllr Michael Loftus, who is a member of the Grainne Uaile Sub-Aqua Club in Ballina and is the leading charge for the reef project in Killala Bay, has told the Western People that the vessel has now moved to New Ross, Co. Wexford for repair works.

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