#Ports&Shipping - The Irish Examiner writes that the Marine Survey Office was not justified in issuing a detention order for a ship damaged while it was berthing in Greenore port, Co Louth, the High Court has ruled.

The Circuit Court had previously ruled the Marine Survey Office of the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport, was not justified in detaining the MV Cielo di Monaco, a Malta-registered bulk carrier owned by D'Amico Societádi Navigazione (DSN).

That court said, on the evidence before it, the vessel was not a clear hazard to safety, health or the environment.

The High Court's Mr Justice Denis McDonald agreed and refused an appeal against that decision by the Marine Survey Office (MSO).

The 180-metre long vessel entered Greenore on September 27, 2015, to discharge cargo. It was piloted in, as pilotage is compulsory in the privately-owned Greenore.

While dredging had been carried out at the port to provide a deep-water berth, it transpired no dredging had occurred in the inner area of the berth where the bulbous bow of the MV Cielo di Monaco berthed, the court heard.

The next morning, the crew notice an ingress of water and it was established there were cracks in the steel plating of the vessel from it having grounded in the lowering tide.

The Master of the vessel notified a number of bodies and organisations about the damage, including the Marine Casualty Investigation Board.

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