A luxury cruise liner with some 170 passengers on board is likely to be detained in Waterford until tomorrow at the earliest in order to rectify a number of safety problems noted by marine safety inspectors.
The Bahamas-registered Seabourn Pride was detained in Waterford on Wednesday after inspectors from the Department of the Marine's Marine Survey Office found the ship had failed to address a number of safety concerns highlighted by British inspectors.
Yesterday, a Department of the Marine spokesperson confirmed that the ship's owners had been in contact with the department to say they were working on addressing the safety concerns, but had no indication yet when the ship would be released.
The ship remained off-limits at the north wharf in Waterford inner port yesterday and the its agents, Hamilton Shipping, declined to answer any questions about the detention, saying they had been instructed by Seabourn not to give out any information.
However, Tony Ayton of the International Transport Workers' Federation said he believed it will take most of the weekend to rectify the problems. All of the 160 crew are members of unions affiliated to the ITF, said Mr Ayton. He said he met the ship's captain, chief engineer, senior officers and representatives of the crew in Waterford yesterday and was briefed on the problem.
"Basically the problem relates to the build-up of oil in the bilge in the engine room - there are a number of small leaks and it's been building up for some time. The ship's owners have brought in contractors from Belfast to rectify the problem but it will take some time," said Mr Ayton.
He paid tribute to the Marine Survey Office inspectors for their handling of the problem and their decision to detain the vessel - the first time a cruise liner has been detained in Ireland over safety issues.
"It's been an ongoing problem but it has to be sorted out - my members on board the ship are glad that it's been tackled as I'm sure the passengers are. It may be disrupting their holiday but it's nothing compared to the engine room bursting into flames in the Irish Sea."
The 10,000-tonne Seabourn Pride - which has capacity for 208 guests - is on an 18-day cruise around Britain, Ireland, Canada and the US, which began in London on August 28th and is due to conclude in New York on September 15th. It had been scheduled to spend just a day in Waterford.
Eithne Earle, chairwoman of Cruise Co-op in Waterford, a voluntary group which liaises with passengers from cruise liners calling to the port, said most of the passengers seemed happy to spend time in Waterford.
"They can visit Waterford Crystal, visit the Dunbrody [ ship] in New Ross or play golf at Mount Juliet or Waterford Castle," she said.