A TEAM of Irish divers was questioned by French police yesterday after they recovered the steering wheel, ship's bell and compass from the Asgard II.
However, the divers say that if they had not saved the items, they would have been removed by sports divers and lost to the State.
Capt Gerry Burns, a former master of the Asgard IIwho secured sponsorship for the diving expedition, defended the venture and said that the artefacts would be offered to the National Maritime Museum.
“The Government doesn’t care about sail training, so what harm were we doing?”asked Capt Burns.
Minister for Defence Tony Killeen said last night that he could “find no evidence at this stage that permission for the dive had been granted by either the Irish or French authorities”.
Mr Killeen said that the issue was one for Coiste an Asgard, the sail training organisation which ran Asgard II, and which is still the official owner of the hull.
The team, led by Eoin McGarry of Co Waterford, comprises experienced deep-sea divers, including an off-duty Garda detective.
Mr McGarry has dived on the Lusitaniaamong other expeditions.
Mr McGarry said that the two dives undertaken by the six-strong group this week off the northwest French coast were in 83m of water. “The ship is still upright but listing to starboard,” he said.
“Unfortunately, it is not in a salvageable condition now as the wheelhouse and mast were ripped away by trawling activity, but the hull is intact and we have images of the hole which we believe led to the sinking,”he said. Mr McGarry said that he was “very disappointed” that the sail training organisation Coiste an Asgard had filed a complaint with the French authorities.
This led to the group being questioned by police yesterday afternoon. Mr McGarry said the French police were satisfied once they were informed that one of the divers, a garda, would make the necessary Receiver of Wreck arrangements.
Ship ownership was retained by Coiste an Asgard, after insurance of €3.8 million was paid. The sum, which had been promised initially by former defence minister Willie O’Dea for part cost of a replacement vessel, was returned to central coffers.
The national sail training programme was then cancelled in last year’s budget.
Capt Burns, who led a long-running campaign to have the vessel salvaged, said that the ship had “meant so much to the young people of Ireland that we felt we had to have some tokens”.
“We wanted something for the National Maritime Museum to keep the memory of this vessel alive, and all it stood for,”he said.
“The Government fed us with lies and delaying tactics on the future of the ship and of sail training after the sinking, and then cancelled the whole programme,” said Capt Burns. He said he had raised sponsorship from his employer, Irish Ferries, for the expedition.
A draft inquiry into the sinking has suggested that the ship may have collided with a container or other object. It was not able to rule conclusively on the cause of vessel’s loss, but noted that sub-sea camera footage of the hull, recorded in 2008, pointed to impact.
The timber brigantine sank hours after it began taking in water off the north-west French coast early on September 11th 2008, and all 25 on board were rescued after a “textbook” evacuation by ship’s captain Colm Newport and crew.
One liferaft failed during the evacuation when its floor gave way, and those trainees on board it had to be transferred quickly to an alternative