Moves afoot to raise sunken boat in Carrickfergus Harbour as council says 'no immiediate risk' of leaking oil
Mid and East Antrim Borough Council has moved to reassure the public about the environmental risk posed by a sunken boat.
Moves are currently under way to prepare the vessel for being raised from the bottom of Carrickfergus Harbour by the end of the month.
The boat is surrounded by a floating boom designed to contain any oil spills, and the council has said there is “no immediate risk” from the vessel.
It was notified of the sinking on September 28.
In the last 24 hours divers have been seen at work around the underwater vessel, which was moored in a prominent spot across from Carrickfergus Castle.
The council told the News Letter in a statement: "Following notification that a vessel had sunk, council officers acted promptly to deploy an oil containment boom around the boat in accordance with our Oil Spill Contingency Plan.
"The boom remains in place and is inspected daily, with no immediate risk to the environment identified.
“We continue to work closely with the relevant statutory agencies, which are satisfied with the response measures implemented to date.
"Water quality samples were taken shortly after the vessel sank and further sampling will be carried out following its recovery to ensure ongoing environmental monitoring.
“Our officers are also working with the vessel owner and their insurers to arrange recovery and disposal of the boat.
"Pre-salvage dive inspections and the final salvage operation will be completed by the end of October."
The sunken wreck is next to The Swift bar-and-restaurant, which is currently in the process of being torn down.
John Houston of the group Carrickfergus Pictured posted images yesterday of divers at work and said “they are moving the boat down to the corner by putting floats under it and pulling it down to the corner with ropes”.
He added their plan is “to facilitate removal of the said boat by crane”.
DUP councillor for Carrick Castle Billy Ashe told the News Letter that it is being dealt with much more quickly than a previous sinking in the harbour, where the boat and been left lying there for nine months.
It had involved “a terrible lot of paperwork” and they had struggled to find people “with the neccessary credentials” to handle it.
"Ultimately, keeping the place clean, tidy and respectable has to be one of our main aims,” he said.
He likes the “aesthetic value” of the “older boats” moored up opposite the castle, and inevitably “the risk that you run” is that some of these long-in-the-tooth vessels will sink.
But he said that, as far as eyesores go, “a boat in the harbour is small potatoes” compared to the derelict Swift and the block of flats which will replace it.