Vol. 418 No. 4
91 Dr. Lee asked the Minister for the Marine whether any special precautions are taken at Dublin Port when the Asahi ship, carrying the highly dangerous chemical acrylonitrile, is entering the port; and his views on whether special precautions should be taken, particularly in view of the two serious collisions involving ships at Dublin Port in recent times.
The Dublin Port and Docks Board who are the responsible body for the navigation of ships within the port regularly issue notices to mariners regarding the safe navigation and passage of ships within the Dublin Bay area.
The port authority is aware that acrylonitrile is a very dangerous chemical and so in addition to the advice given in the above-mentioned notices, special precautions have been introduced on a trial basis with effect from 1 July 1991. These precautions apply when loaded acrylonitrile vessels are entering the port: (1) acrylonitrile vessels are not permitted to proceed inward while other traffic is outbound; (2) a minimum distance of one half mile, both ahead and astern of acrylonitrile vessels must be maintained by all inbound traffic; (3) no other traffic is permitted to proceed outbound while an incoming acrylonitrile vessel is in the fairway, until said vessel has passed or left the fairway; and (4) the passage of acrylonitrile vessels and the monitoring of traffic in the area of these vessels is carried out by port radio.
I am sure the Deputy will agree that the observance of the strict procedures laid down by the port authority will act to minimise the risk of an incident occurring.
