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Displaying items by tag: Mr. Tony Killeen

The Captain and the of Asgard II are highly praised for their professionalism in today's publication of the Marine Casualty Investigation Board's report of the investigation into the loss of the sail training vessel "Asgard II".

The impact assumption and liferaft issue in the report are already issues known about for some time.

The vessel which sank in the Bay of Biscay on 11 September 2008 while on route to La Rochelle, France was carrying 5 crew and 20 trainees.

All on board were evacuated safely from the vessel and transferred to the ships life rafts where they were brought to the island of Bel Ille by the French coastguard.

Minister or Defence, Mr. Tony Killeen commented that while the findings into the cause of the sinking are inconclusive it recognises that the vessel was equipped and maintained in excess of the statutory requirements and that higher safety standards were in place on the ship which were above those required by legislation.

The Minister also noted that the report acknowledges the leadership shown by the ship's Master, Colm Newport and he commended his and the crew's handling of the emergency situation.

The full report is available for download below.

Click this link for all Afloat's coverage of Asgard II's sinking, and the plans to raise, dive and replace her

Raise the Asgard - Afloat's 2008 online petition
Published in Asgard II

Coastal Notes Coastal Notes covers a broad spectrum of stories, events and developments in which some can be quirky and local in nature, while other stories are of national importance and are on-going, but whatever they are about, they need to be told.

Stories can be diverse and they can be influential, albeit some are more subtle than others in nature, while other events can be immediately felt. No more so felt, is firstly to those living along the coastal rim and rural isolated communities. Here the impact poses is increased to those directly linked with the sea, where daily lives are made from earning an income ashore and within coastal waters.

The topics in Coastal Notes can also be about the rare finding of sea-life creatures, a historic shipwreck lost to the passage of time and which has yet many a secret to tell. A trawler's net caught hauling more than fish but cannon balls dating to the Napoleonic era.

Also focusing the attention of Coastal Notes, are the maritime museums which are of national importance to maintaining access and knowledge of historical exhibits for future generations.

Equally to keep an eye on the present day, with activities of existing and planned projects in the pipeline from the wind and wave renewables sector and those of the energy exploration industry.

In addition Coastal Notes has many more angles to cover, be it the weekend boat leisure user taking a sedate cruise off a long straight beach on the coast beach and making a friend with a feathered companion along the way.

In complete contrast is to those who harvest the sea, using small boats based in harbours where infrastructure and safety poses an issue, before they set off to ply their trade at the foot of our highest sea cliffs along the rugged wild western seaboard.

It's all there, as Coastal Notes tells the stories that are arguably as varied to the environment from which they came from and indeed which shape people's interaction with the surrounding environment that is the natural world and our relationship with the sea.