{"id":419944,"date":"2026-04-27T12:32:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-27T12:32:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/419944\/"},"modified":"2026-04-27T12:32:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-27T12:32:09","slug":"operation-to-salvage-trawler-grounded-in-awkward-spot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/419944\/","title":{"rendered":"Operation to salvage trawler grounded ‘in awkward spot’"},"content":{"rendered":"

A major operation is under way in west Kerry to remove a trawler from rocks near Daingean U\u00ed Ch\u00fais.<\/p>\n

The Fastnet, a French-registered vessel, was driven ashore last December when her engine failed at the mouth of Cuan an Daingin during high winds.<\/p>\n

Fourteen crew members were lifted to safety in a dramatic helicopter rescue effort.<\/p>\n

Salvage operators are attempting to remove the 350-tonne boat which is situated near the well-known beauty spot of Binn B\u00e1n beach.<\/p>\n

Over the weekend, a large jack-up platform on which sits a crane was pulled by tug to the mouth of Cuan an Daingin and placed alongside the stricken vessel.<\/p>\n

Due to the weight of the vessel and its resting place in shallow water, salvage operators have said it is not possible to refloat the trawler.<\/p>\n

\"Salvage
\nA large platform was moved into place over the weekend to help cut up and salvage the trawler<\/p>\n

The intention is to cut the boat into pieces in order to remove it.<\/p>\n

The pieces of the vessel will then be lifted by crane into a truck which will sit on another landing craft, before being driven ashore.<\/p>\n

Se\u00e1n Harrington, from Atlantic Towage and Marine Salvage, the company contracted to oversee the removal of the trawler, said the effort is complicated by the Fastnet’s location.<\/p>\n

“It\u2019s an awkward spot alright. The swell tends to funnel into that area. We have the ability to jack-up the platform above the waves, but if we get very high seas we may have to move the platform and crane back into the safety of the harbour,” he said.<\/p>\n

Mr Harrington added: “We will have two specialist cutters on board the vessel, so the cutting will be done manually. The speed of the work will really depend on weather conditions.”<\/p>\n

\"A
\nEfforts to refloat the vessel after its grounding in December were unsuccessful<\/p>\n

Efforts to refloat the vessel after its grounding in December were unsuccessful.<\/p>\n

Damage to the hull of the boat resulted in the spillage of thousands of litres of fuel leading to concerns for the ecological impact of the grounding.<\/p>\n

The vessel had been carrying an estimated 40,000 litres of fuel.<\/p>\n

An improvement in weather conditions eventually allowed marine pollution and salvage teams to board the vessel and secure any remaining fuel.<\/p>\n

The removal of the trawler is expected to take eight weeks to complete.<\/p>\n

It is understood the Fastnet\u2019s insurers will cover the cost of removing the vessel as well as the pollution prevention works.<\/p>\n

It is believed the cost of the operation will be in the region of \u20ac5 million.<\/p>\n

Built in 2001, the Fastnet is based in the French-Basque city of Bayonne.<\/p>\n

The trawler was previously fishing out of Castletownbere before being sold to French owners.<\/p>\n

The Fastnet is resting within 400 metres of Binn B\u00e1n beach, an area with picturesque views of the mouth of Cuan an Daingin and Binn B\u00e1n lighthouse.<\/p>\n

It is also a popular destination for tourists as it overlooks the area of the harbour frequented by Fungie the dolphin before his disappearance in October 2020.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A major operation is under way in west Kerry to remove a trawler from rocks near Daingean U\u00ed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":419945,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-419944","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/419944","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=419944"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/419944\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/419945"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=419944"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=419944"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=419944"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}