Vol. 514 No. 2
21 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources if he will make a statement on the report received from the chief surveyor of his Department on waves and HSS operations in Dublin Bay following the death of a swimmer at the Forty Foot bathing place in October 1998. [3638/00]
As the Deputy is aware following an inquest into the death of a person who drowned at the Forty Foot bathing place on 16 October 1998, the coroner for the county of Dublin wrote to my predecessor advising that the inquest jury recommended "that a competent inquiry be undertaken, with a view to establishing the nature of any changes in sea conditions attributable to HSS vessels". Subsequently, a report on a review carried out by the chief surveyor from the marine survey office of my Department on waves and HSS vessel operations in Dublin Bay was presented to my predecessor who published the report by laying it before the Houses of the Oireachtas on 24 January 2000.
The report is not into the drowning of a person, the subject of an inquest in the normal way, but rather a review of the position in relation to waves generated by the HSS vessel operated by Stena Line Limited between Holyhead and Dún Laoghaire. The report examines the wave patterns which are generated by the HSS vessel in various sea conditions and the effect that these could have in the bay and on the shoreline. It also outlines the action taken by Dublin Port and Stena Line Limited to identify the problems with this wave generation and the measures, including speed abatement procedures and modified operating conditions, which were introduced to eliminate, or at least minimise to an acceptable level, the waves produced by the vessel.
