The fishing trawler that ran aground in Dingle Harbour during stormy weather 12 days ago is to be removed from there by barge.
The Harbour Board and the Department of The Marine demanded the Celestial Dawn's insurers, P&I Club, remove the wreck.
The 90-foot vessel, which was registered in Ireland but had a Spanish crew, set out from the port on February 2nd last but quickly ended up on the rocks at the harbour entrance. The fishermen had to be rescued by helicopter and taken to Tralee General Hospital.
A spokeswoman for the Department of the Marine told ireland.comthe almost 40 tonnes of diesel that was onboard the Celestial Dawnhas been pumped from the vessel and that the equipment necessary for the removal is on its way to Dingle. The diesel was removed by the Mainport company of Cork and salvage group Smit Tak.
"The harbour will be monitored all the time to make sure there is no pollution," said the spokeswoman.
A meeting is being held in the Co Kerry town this afternoon to decide on how to proceed with the operation. Those attending include the Department of the Marine co-ordinator who is overseeing the operation as well as representatives of Dingle Harbour Board and Belgian salvage company Scaldis.
The Department of the Marine is investigating what happened when the Celestial Dawnset out from Dingle in such poor weather conditions and why it did so.
The removal is not likely to be finished until next week, with the vessel probably ending up as scrap.
