Tall ship 'Astrid' to be scrapped

Historic Astrid to be scrapped after hull damage assessment

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

The historic tall ship Astrid is to be scrapped, bringing a sad end to the 95-year-old vessel’s rich maritime history.

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It has also proven too expensive to tow her to a Dutch scrapyard. 

Negotiations are under way with Cork Dockyard which could see the wreck being towed the short distance to its 44-acre facility near Cobh for scrapping. 

It is a sad end for a once magnificent vessel which ran aground near Oysterhaven, Kinsale, Co Cork, during the Irish Sailing Association’s Gathering Cruise on Jul 24 after its engines failed. All 30 people on board — seven crew and 23 trainees — were saved during a dramatic rescue operation. 

The 42m steel square-rigger held fast on the rocks at Ballymacus Point for six weeks until it was hoisted off the rocks during a complex salvage operation. 

The decision, confirmed last night, quashed any hopes that the former sail training vessel could be restored as a floating museum in the Netherlands. 

The decision came despite an intensive ‘Save the Astrid’ campaign in owner and skipper Pieter de Kam’s native Holland, organised through Facebook. 

Following a series of meetings between Mr de Kam, his insurance company, and marine surveyors, it was decided that the damage to her hull was so extensive that the cost of repair and restoration was too high. 

Kinsale Harbour Master Captain Phil Devitt confirmed last night that a decision has now been taken to scrap the Astrid. 

She was last week towed to Kinsale’s Lobster Quay where she was lifted on to a recovery barge. 

A decision on when it will be removed is expected over the next 48 hours. 

The Astrid was built in a Dutch shipyard in 1918 as a freight logger. She was transferred into Swedish ownership and worked Baltic sea trade routes under the Lebanese flag from 1970 until 1975. 

She was sold again and rumours emerged that she had fallen into the hands of drug smugglers. She was found abandoned and burnt to a shell off the southern coast of England in the early 1980s. 

Following a complete renovation in 1999, she was relaunched as a sail training vessel before Mr de Kam and his wife Ineke bought her around seven years ago and began running sail training courses for young people. 

The Astrid competed in races such as the Transatlantic Tall Ships’ Race and the annual Heineken Race of the Classics.