The Government has been urged to explore if there is some way that the European Union might assist the Republic in meeting the multimillion euro cost of maintaining the MV Matthew, after it emerged that the ship was sold for a nominal value of $1.
Fianna Fáil Cork South-Central TD Séamus McGrath said he was surprised to learn from the Revenue Commissioners that the ship, which was carrying €157 million worth of drugs, had been sold for just $1 after €16.84 million had been spent on maintaining it since law enforcement agencies seized the vessel.
“I had been told last week in reply to a parliamentary question that it had cost €16.01 million to maintain the MV Matthew. But it now seems it cost closer to €17 million between berthing, crewing and maintenance since Army Rangers boarded her off Ballycotton on September 26th 2023. But I think it will shock a lot of people to learn from Revenue that the actual residual value of the vessel was $1.”
The MV Matthew departed Cork Harbour on Friday and Revenue said the cost of “safely managing and maintaining the vessel to date has cost in the region of €17 million. Ultimately, an international shipping company acquired the MV Matthew for a nominal consideration of $1 with an agreement to tow the vessel to Varna in Bulgaria under single-voyage exemption by way of a dead ship tow.
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“Revenue’s approach has been to fund what was necessary to safely maintain the MV Matthew. This included essential repair and maintenance costs as they arose.”
McGrath said that he had no issue with the retention of the MV Matthew until December 2024 when she was held as evidence in the criminal prosecution of some eight defendants charged with drug smuggling, but he questioned why it took so long to dispose of the ship thereafter.
“But once the criminal process was concluded and the ship released from the courts on December 2nd 2024, should a more timely decision have been made in terms of the disposal of the vessel rather than keeping her for almost 20 months at a cost of another €10 million?”
McGrath said he accepted that seizing a ship as big as a bulk carrier like the MV Matthew was probably unprecedented in Europe, but he suggested it might be useful for the State to examine what was best practice internationally regarding the seizure of vessels involved in drug smuggling.
“I think Ireland probably is in a unique position in many ways, given the size of our coastline and our geographical location on the western edge of Europe, so should there be more international and European support for us when you seize such an amount of drugs?
“Should there be a more collegiate approach across the EU, for example, in terms of bearing some of the costs imposed on the State when we seize that amount of drugs and end up carrying the cost of trying to dispose of the vessel involved? And that’s something I will be raising with Government.”
