Continued
Diver Louis narrowly avoided serious injury
Deep sea diver, Louis O’Leary, avoided serious injuries as he was setting up a drill for a hot-tap procedure, to suck out the oil on the submerged vessel.
It was a dangerous location to dive, he said, due to strong surges.
“There was a little lip, about an inch wide,*along*the edge of the ship and it was causing a surge,” said Mr O’Leary. “As I was setting up the drill, a surge took me straight over the ship and, as it did, it flipped my weight belt.
“I was wearing a dry suit, which was semi-inflated, and I just managed to grab the weight belt, before it fell to the seabed — otherwise, I would have floated to the surface.”
He escaped decompression, or the ‘bends’.
He had been engaged with Celtic Sea divers, examining the possibility of the vessel being towed off the rocks and, also,*salvage*company, Smith Tak, tasked with removing the 2,000 tonnes of working fuel oil
The doors of the ship’s wells were open, he said, and water was bellowing in through hatches, creating a pump action. “It was frightening to get sucked in, but if you waited and didn’t panic, the pump action would blow you out again.”
He also aided owner, Shaun Kent, for several days, in removing anti-fouling paint.
“Any anti-fouling paint is poisonous to marine life and Mr Kent possibly believed he would find favour with local*environmentalists,*if it was removed,” said Mr O’Leary.
Having examined the ship for a department of*marine*structural engineer, Clonakilty-born Mr O’Leary said it was obvious,*from*first glance, that the ship was on its last legs
“The ship was reportedly in trouble with its power, but the first thing I landed on was a huge generator, almost the size of a normal kitchen,” he said. “We were asked to check steering pipes, but the damage was extensive — it’s hard to say if they had been interfered with, but the damage looked as if a sledge hammer had been taken to them.”
Ex-fisherman, Colin Barnes, now a whale-watch expert, had observed the vessel drifting, the night before it grounded on the Stags.
“I was with the late Joe Barry and I remember saying: ‘You know where she’s going.’ We watched until 11pm and, at 5am, we went to Toe Head and there she was on the rocks, as expected. We went out at first light and, thinking it was going to sink within hours, Joe and another crewman jumped on*board*first.
“What amazed me, everything was so bloody big and it was obvious the crew had left in a hurry.
“We picked up a few bits, souvenirs. I recovered the compass, which I later gave to the captain, and a nice pair of binoculars, which were returned to me after a year and a day by the receiver [of wrecks].”
Government’s lack of interest after spill ‘disappointing’
Furious at the disinterest by the government of the time, voluntary organisation*Earthwatch*arrived outside Dáil Éireann with 100 dead sea birds.
Mary Jordan, a leading light in the group, said: “Thousands of birds, covered in oil, had died and the impact on seals or other wildlife was immeasurable.
“After the initial drama of a disabled ship circling the sea and finally being grounded, the government and much of the media became disinterested, which was very disappointing.
“No department was prepared to accept responsibility for what was happening and no solutions had been forthcoming.
“The gardaí outside the Dáil were very shocked by the sight of dead oiled birds and kindly stopped many politicians in their cars as they emerged from Leinster House to give us an opportunity to hand out leaflets demanding action.
“I saw Jim Mitchell, the minister, take another exit and run to his office on the other side of the road.
“I ran after him with two dead guillemots, but I didn’t catch him.
“After the February election in 1987, Mr Haughey as Taoiseach arrived in Baltimore.
“Along with others, we had a meeting with him and he asked us what we wanted.
“We requested a department of marine be established and he agreed. We also demanded the remaining oil be removed.
“He set up the department but, unfortunately, in governments since, there has been no dedicated department of marine with it being attached to other departments.”
Care centres for injured birds had been set up at two locations, but just after the release of birds, wintered at Rory Jackson’s home at Toe Head and recovering from being oiled and cleaned, a major spill from the wreck immediately killed them.
Ms Jordan said council workers and scores of volunteers put in a super-human effort to clean beaches and bag oily sand.
She said many people in a fledgeling tourism industry were annoyed the disaster had been kept in the public eye in the early months of 1987 was negative publicity.
“It was a nightmare time on several fronts — there was the reality of seeing all the dead seals and birds, wildlife struggling for survival, covered in oil. No one knew when the oil leaks were going to stop.
“There were rumours about toxic materials on board along with the realisation an important spawning ground could be permanently damaged.
“In the meantime, people with B+Bs and other tourism interests wanted the negative publicity to stop.”
Deep sea diver, Louis O’Leary, avoided serious injuries as he was setting up a drill for a hot-tap procedure, to suck out the oil on the submerged vessel.
It was a dangerous location to dive, he said, due to strong surges.
“There was a little lip, about an inch wide,*along*the edge of the ship and it was causing a surge,” said Mr O’Leary. “As I was setting up the drill, a surge took me straight over the ship and, as it did, it flipped my weight belt.
“I was wearing a dry suit, which was semi-inflated, and I just managed to grab the weight belt, before it fell to the seabed — otherwise, I would have floated to the surface.”
He escaped decompression, or the ‘bends’.
He had been engaged with Celtic Sea divers, examining the possibility of the vessel being towed off the rocks and, also,*salvage*company, Smith Tak, tasked with removing the 2,000 tonnes of working fuel oil
The doors of the ship’s wells were open, he said, and water was bellowing in through hatches, creating a pump action. “It was frightening to get sucked in, but if you waited and didn’t panic, the pump action would blow you out again.”
He also aided owner, Shaun Kent, for several days, in removing anti-fouling paint.
“Any anti-fouling paint is poisonous to marine life and Mr Kent possibly believed he would find favour with local*environmentalists,*if it was removed,” said Mr O’Leary.
Having examined the ship for a department of*marine*structural engineer, Clonakilty-born Mr O’Leary said it was obvious,*from*first glance, that the ship was on its last legs
“The ship was reportedly in trouble with its power, but the first thing I landed on was a huge generator, almost the size of a normal kitchen,” he said. “We were asked to check steering pipes, but the damage was extensive — it’s hard to say if they had been interfered with, but the damage looked as if a sledge hammer had been taken to them.”
Ex-fisherman, Colin Barnes, now a whale-watch expert, had observed the vessel drifting, the night before it grounded on the Stags.
“I was with the late Joe Barry and I remember saying: ‘You know where she’s going.’ We watched until 11pm and, at 5am, we went to Toe Head and there she was on the rocks, as expected. We went out at first light and, thinking it was going to sink within hours, Joe and another crewman jumped on*board*first.
“What amazed me, everything was so bloody big and it was obvious the crew had left in a hurry.
“We picked up a few bits, souvenirs. I recovered the compass, which I later gave to the captain, and a nice pair of binoculars, which were returned to me after a year and a day by the receiver [of wrecks].”
Government’s lack of interest after spill ‘disappointing’
Furious at the disinterest by the government of the time, voluntary organisation*Earthwatch*arrived outside Dáil Éireann with 100 dead sea birds.
Mary Jordan, a leading light in the group, said: “Thousands of birds, covered in oil, had died and the impact on seals or other wildlife was immeasurable.
“After the initial drama of a disabled ship circling the sea and finally being grounded, the government and much of the media became disinterested, which was very disappointing.
“No department was prepared to accept responsibility for what was happening and no solutions had been forthcoming.
“The gardaí outside the Dáil were very shocked by the sight of dead oiled birds and kindly stopped many politicians in their cars as they emerged from Leinster House to give us an opportunity to hand out leaflets demanding action.
“I saw Jim Mitchell, the minister, take another exit and run to his office on the other side of the road.
“I ran after him with two dead guillemots, but I didn’t catch him.
“After the February election in 1987, Mr Haughey as Taoiseach arrived in Baltimore.
“Along with others, we had a meeting with him and he asked us what we wanted.
“We requested a department of marine be established and he agreed. We also demanded the remaining oil be removed.
“He set up the department but, unfortunately, in governments since, there has been no dedicated department of marine with it being attached to other departments.”
Care centres for injured birds had been set up at two locations, but just after the release of birds, wintered at Rory Jackson’s home at Toe Head and recovering from being oiled and cleaned, a major spill from the wreck immediately killed them.
Ms Jordan said council workers and scores of volunteers put in a super-human effort to clean beaches and bag oily sand.
She said many people in a fledgeling tourism industry were annoyed the disaster had been kept in the public eye in the early months of 1987 was negative publicity.
“It was a nightmare time on several fronts — there was the reality of seeing all the dead seals and birds, wildlife struggling for survival, covered in oil. No one knew when the oil leaks were going to stop.
“There were rumours about toxic materials on board along with the realisation an important spawning ground could be permanently damaged.
“In the meantime, people with B+Bs and other tourism interests wanted the negative publicity to stop.”
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