The Polish-owned chemical tanker which has been adrift off the south coast for the last two days was under tow to Cork harbour last night, following a fire in its engine room.
The trade union-based International Transport Federation (ITF), which had been critical of an apparent delay in assisting the vessel, paid tribute yesterday to Minister of State for Transport Pat "the Cope" Gallagher for intervening.
However, the ITF also believes there are unanswered questions in relation to the sequence of events on the vessel, the response of the vessel owners and that of the Irish authorities. "Had the vessel been carrying its hazardous cargo, and had the weather been different, we could have had a catastrophe," Mr Ken Fleming, ITF Irish representative and Siptu official, said yesterday.
Mr Gallagher said yesterday morning that a tug had been sent from Castletownbere, Co Cork, to escort the 95-metre West Sailorinto port. The Naval Service patrol ship, LE Aoife, which was despatched to check on the ship on Wednesday, is escorting the tow into Cobh, where repairs will be carried out. The ITF also intends to check out the welfare of the vessel's crew and their pay and conditions.
The alert was raised in the early hours of Wednesday morning, when the Maltese-registered and Polish-owned tanker reported a fire in its engine room. Fortunately, the ship had already discharged its load of sulphuric acid at Aughinish Alumina on the Shannon estuary and was on its way to the Belgian port of Antwerp. Weather conditions were also good at the time.
The 15-strong Polish and Filipino crew eventually managed to bring the fire under control, but the main engine failed to re-start. The Irish Coast Guard offered to assist with evacuation, but says that the master of the vessel did not believe this was necessary.
"The Government now has to look at the events which have taken place since the early hours of yesterday morning. I understand from contacts on board the West Sailorand contacts in the Irish emergency services, that rescue measures were only activated a considerable time after the fire in the vessel's engine room had already been brought under control by the crew," Mr Fleming said yesterday.
