Vol. 535 No. 4
79 Mr. Broughan asked the Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources if the ferry, City of Cork, which was detained in the UK as a result of a failure on the part of some of its crew to comply with safety standards, had been subject to any inspection by the Irish authorities; if so, the outcome of such inspection; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12784/01]
123 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources if he has taken any initiatives to ensure against a recurrence of the situation whereby a seagoing passenger-carrying vessel was impounded overseas for alleged non-compliance with safety requirements; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13029/01]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 79 and 123 together.
The City of Cork was detained as a result of inspections jointly carried out by my Department's marine survey office and the United Kingdom's Maritime and Coastguard Agency in accordance with my Department's practice of inspecting all passenger ferries operating to this country and in compliance with the European directive on inspection of such vessels. These inspections cover not only the ship and its equipment, but also the crew's qualifications, competence and ability to deal with emergencies in accordance with the standards laid down in the relevant international conventions.
In the case of City of Cork, after a number of drills had been jointly carried out by the MSO and the MCA in Cork, it was agreed that some further training was necessary and that further drills would be held in Swansea. While undergoing these further drills in Swansea certain language difficulties were revealed with a small but critical number of the ship's crew. The vessel was detained by the MCA in Swansea, with the involvement and agreement of the MSO, until such time as its owners had replaced the crew members concerned and was released from Swansea when the MCA was satisfied with the new crew. When the vessel returned to Cork it was again inspected by surveyors from the MSO and further drills carried out until they were satisfied that any crew deficiencies had been rectified.
