SALVAGE EXPERTS are to carry out a second underwater survey on the Asgard IInext month to ascertain if it can be raised from the seabed.
Cameras will again be lowered to the seabed 22km (14 miles) off the French coast in the Bay of Biscay to assess the condition of the vessel and whether it can be saved.
Officials had intended to inspect the Asgard IIbefore Christmas but were delayed by bad weather. It has now been lying in 83m of water for four months.
"It was hoped to have it done by now, but with the time of year and the weather it is always difficult. The main reason for the delay is the weather was atrocious," a spokesman for the Department of Defence said.
"We are now looking at mid-January. A decision on whether we can go ahead with the raising of the Asgard II will only be made on completion of the survey. Hopefully a salvage operation could be done within 10 days. Salvors could have the thing up in a day or two."
Some 25 crew and trainees were rescued by French lifeboats in the early hours of September 11th, when the brigantine started taking water some 22km west of Belle-Ile, off the northwest coast of France. The vessel had been travelling to La Rochelle, France, for a maritime festival and routine maintenance.
The department has asked Irish-based company Remote Presence to send down cameras for half a day to reassess the boat's condition and make a decision on raising the vessel.
The boat is insured by Allianz for €3.8 million, according to the Department of Defence, while salvage could cost about €2 million.
Experts warned the biggest threat to the boat could be from fishing nets getting caught in its masts; at their highest they sit about 25m below the surface.
Video footage of the boat shows it is largely intact, sitting upright on the seabed with a significant hole in a plank in the hull. Investigators believe the boat sank after it struck a semi-submerged metal object.
Earlier this month, Minister for Defence Willie O'Dea said a second underwater survey would be conducted before a final decision is taken on salvage.
