£280,000 operation to lift ship

£280,000 operation to lift ship

28 June 2017

A SUNKEN wooden ship will be cut up and dumped after being lifted from Portaferry Harbour in a massive £280,000 operation.

The 140-foot Regina Caelis was due to be lifted from Cook Street jetty last night by a specialist team on board a 60-metre 2,000 tonne crane barge from Liverpool.

The removal of the vessel from the harbour, just in time for the forthcoming Narrow’s Regatta Series and Portaferry Gala, comes five months after it first sank in stormy weather.

It has remained half submerged since then because of a legal wrangle between the council and its owner over who would foot the bill.

For health and safety reasons it is understood Ards and North Down Council proceeded with the job through insurance with the intention of recouping costs at a later date.

Although the boat’s owner initially said he expected her to be salvaged so he could proceed with its restoration, experts tasked with lifting the boat have revealed the vessel is rotten and the wreckage now destined for landfill.

Jeremy Rogers, from Cuan Marine Services, which is involved in the removal operation, said preliminary work to get the boat ready to lift showed it was “absolutely rotten”.

Rejecting suggestion it was fit for repair, he said it would be dried out before being broken up for landfill.

“The ship is not valuable, it is rotten, absolutely rotten,” he said.

“The masts fell out of the stays when we tried to take them down. It would cost millions to salvage and restore her.”

Mr Rogers, who was involved in the SeaGen project, said he used Cook Street jetty daily for work before the tall ship sank but had been forced to use Strangford Quay since January.

“I think everybody is keen to get it away,” he said.

“The main event on the local sailing calendar will happen in mid-July and hopefully this project will be complete by then.”

Portaferry councillor Joe Boyle said local people were delighted the jetty would be “freed up” by the removal of the Regina Caelis.

He said he had been involved with the council in the “long drawn out process” of removal and accepted the delays had been a “hindrance” to the Portaferry community.

“We had anticipated that this would be removed by the start of the summer season as it has become a blight on the landscape,” he said.

“It has been a lengthy process getting to this stage, with many twists and turns, but hopefully the worst is now over.”

An Ards and North Down Council spokeswoman yesterday confirmed the boat would be lifted and placed on the adjacent slip.

“The project has progressed within timescale,” he said.

“The council is liaising with insurers and no further information is available at this time in relation to costs.”