The Coastguard says it has reduced the pollution risk from the Panamanian-registered car carrier which ran aground off the Co Wicklow coast three days ago. A bunker barge began removing some 154,000 gallons of fuel from the vessel yesterday, and efforts were continuing last night to refloat the 200-metre ship. The Asian Parade ran aground on the Codling Bank some six miles east of Greystones at about 9 p.m. last Wednesday, shortly after leaving Dublin for Rotterdam.
The ship's agent, Interliner, expressed confidence yesterday that the ship could be moved from the sandbank at high tide. The intention then would be to take it into Dublin Port. The vessel, with 20 crew, had unloaded 1,000 cars in Dublin, but was still carrying 1,700 new and secondhand vehicles.
Tugs worked to stabilise the ship yesterday in force six winds as the bunker barge moved alongside. Officials from the Coastguard and the Marine Survey Office boarded the carrier to oversee the removal of fuel and the Naval Service patrol ship, LE Ciara remained at the scene.
The Department of the Marine and Natural Resources is carrying out an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the grounding, and the Panamanian authorities are expected to conduct an inquiry. The Codling is clearly marked, both with buoyage and, on Admiralty charts, as a navigational hazard.
It is one of a chain of shallow banks running about five miles offshore between Wicklow and Dublin Bay, where depth is down on some patches to under two fathoms (12 feet). The bank is subject to heavy overfalls in rough weather.
The Asian Parade is a relatively new ship and has been a regular visitor to Dublin Port. It last docked in Dublin on June 11th.
The agent said yesterday he did not envisage removing the vehicles from the ship if the tugs did not succeed in moving it at high tide, just before midnight last night.
