Amount of suspect vessels boarded by Navy plummets since 2016
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The number of Naval Service boardings of vessels suspected of illegal fishing has fallen by nearly two-thirds since 2016.
Sea patrols in the same period have decreased by almost a third and both figures are expected to get worse again this year as the number of operational patrol vessels has dropped to just two.
In 2016, the Naval Service had eight ships operational and a total of 1090 personnel, just four short of its minimal required strength. That year the navy mounted 1,068 days of patrols and carried out 1,249 vessel boardings.
The following year, with its strength dipping slightly to 1,053, and still with eight ships, it carried out 1,091 days of fishery patrols and 1,221 boardings. In 2018, having dropped to 989 personnel, it still managed to mount 1,076 patrol days, but boardings declined to 762.
In 2019, LÉ Eithne and LÉ Orla were mothballed. That year, with 936 personnel, the navy managed 1,036 patrol days at sea and 772 boardings. By 2020, the number of personnel available dropped to 903. The same year the navy was again forced to cut the ships it could deploy.
LÉ Ciara and LÉ Niamh were put into operational reserve and LÉ Roisin was out of action for a significant time due to a major refit. This was reflected in a drop to 718 patrol days and just 309 boardings.
By 2021, personnel numbers were dropping again, resulting in 766 patrol days and 284 boardings.
Last year, personnel numbers started going into freefall and now are estimated to be heading to just over 600 in "effective strength". Patrol days reduced to just over 700 in 2022, but boardings increased to 350.
No half-year figures have been provided by the Defence Forces so far this year, but when the 2023 totals are finally published it is expected they will make grim reading as the navy is now down to two operational ships, with one other said by the Department of Defence to be in ‘reserve’ if needed.
The Defence Forces Press Office said 2023 figures will only be made available when its annual end-of-year report is published. However, they have provided figures for last year which showed there were 702 days that navy ships were out on patrol, and they carried out 350 boardings of suspect vessels to check compliance with EU fishery regulations.
The Defence Forces are trying to bring more air surveillance into play with the Air Corps mounting additional operations off our coast. According to its press office, the Air Corps conducted 97 maritime patrols last year.
But ships’ crews need to physically board trawlers fishing illegally to detain them. Even more importantly, as stated by senior gardaí, they are needed to intercept drug runners. Ireland is awash with cocaine which is coming into the country in the main via the sea.
The navy has been at the forefront of intercepting major drugs shipments off our coast, destined for distribution by cartels across Europe.
The last major seizure the navy made was in 2014 when the drug-running yacht ‘Makayabella’ was intercepted off the southwest coast with an estimated €350m of cocaine onboard. In 2008, the navy seized an estimated €600m in cocaine, again off the southwest coast, which was onboard the ‘Dances With Waves’.