Fishing Vessel "Celestial Dawn" Aground

In the early hours of Sunday 3rd February 2002 the Irish registered, Spanish operated fishing vessel "Celestial Dawn" ran aground at the entrance to Dingle Harbour, Co. Kerry. The vessel was severely damaged and was lying in a dangerous position on a shelf underneath the lighthouse at the entrance to Dingle Harbour.

If she were to slip from the shelf she would have possibly blocked the entrance to Dingle Harbour. Therefore it was necessary to secure the vessel to the cliff in the first instance. This was carried by building a road to the lighthouse, inserting rock anchors in the cliff and securing the vessel with mooring ropes. The operation then continued by pumping the oil ashore up the cliff and this was carried out in co-operation with Smit Tak. Subsequently the vessel was removed by the heavy lift shearlegs barge "Norma".