D I never wore the diving suit that my wife Áine bought me a few years ago. I would have looked like a Bavarian white sausage in it. In the meantime, however, I am considering reconsidering my negative attitude – white sausage or not.
There are fabulous treasures lying off Ireland’s coast. In recent years, a cannonball, a ghost ship and the remains of a steamer carrying 43 tons of gold have been found on the seabed. The finds were reported to the tax authorities because, by law, anyone who finds a shipwreck must report it to the authorities.
To this end, the Ministry of Transport has appointed a network of tax officials as wreck managers. Their job is to take possession of wrecks, estimate their value and, if possible, help find the owners. Sometimes the owners don’t want to be found.
In 2018, the MV Alta’s engines failed while en route from Greece to Haiti, forcing the crew to abandon ship. The “Alta” drifted around as a ghost ship for two years before it ran aground in Cork, southern Ireland. The bankruptcy trustee explained that the ship had no historical significance. The “Alta” continues to lie where it was shipwrecked five years ago. Officials say there are no plans to remove the battered remains, despite environmental and safety concerns. The state has the right to take possession of a wreck that remains unclaimed within one year. But what is he supposed to do with it?
Many of the wreck managers’ records provide insight into Ireland’s often tragic maritime history, with ships sunk by torpedoes, landmines and storms, and disasters claiming hundreds of lives.
In October last year, for example, wooden boards believed to have come from the “HMS Saldanha” washed up in County Donegal in northwest Ireland. The Saldanha was a British frigate built in 1807 to patrol the Irish coast during the Napoleonic Wars. She sank during a storm in 1811, killing all 273 crew members. The captain’s parrot survived and flew ashore, but was shot by a farmer.
In 2016, a porthole of the “SS Laurentic” washed up. The ocean liner was secretly carrying 3,211 gold bars to Canada and the United States to purchase ammunition for Britain when it struck sea mines near Lough Swilly in January 1917. The ship sank and 354 crew members were killed.
All but 22 gold bars have been recovered over the years. So there are still 22 gold bars lying somewhere on the seabed. My diving suit is a bit tight, but no one can see that underwater.