Watch: Smuggling ship heads for Mayo bay ahead of scheduled sinking
Video taken by Padraic Cowman.
The sinking of a former smuggling vessel into Killala Bay for it to become an artificial reef is scheduled to take place tomorrow.
The MV Shingle was seized by Customs officers at Drogheda Port as part of a €14m tobacco seizure in 2014 and was held by the Revenue Commission. It sat in the dry dock at New Ross in the years since.
Earlier this year, a Maritime Area Consent licence was granted to the Killala Bay Ships 2 Reef project team, a group of diving enthusiasts, to allow them to tow the Shingle to Killala Bay for sinking.
Planning permission was then granted by Mayo County Council in July of this year for the preparation, transportation, positioning and placement of the MV Shingle on the seabed of Killala Bay.
As Ireland’s first artificial reef, it is hoped that the project can bring a boost in diving tourism to the west of Ireland as well as promoting local marine ecology.
The MV Shingle was videoed just off Eagle Island, Erris Head on its way to Killala Bay before tomorrow's scheduled sinking.
