MV Matthew departs Cork having cost State €16m in berthing, crew and maintenance fees

Tánaiste Simon Harris has been urged to examine the cost of retaining drug smuggling ships after it emerged the State will be unable to recoup the €16 million spent on the MV Matthew.The ship, which has been sold three years after it was detained off the south coast following the discovery of a €157 million haul of cocaine on-board, departed from Cork on Friday. The Irish Times understands the ship is bound for Varna in Bulgaria, where it is to be refit for future use as a bulk grain carrier on the Black Sea.Fianna Fáil TD Séamus McGrath said he planned to raise the cost of keeping the ship with Harris, who is also the Minister for Finance, after being informed by Revenue Commissioners chairman Niall Cody that there is little chance of recouping the €16 million spent on the MV Matthew.READ MOREMcGrath raised the issue last week by way of a parliamentary question and was told in response that the State had spent €3.73 million on berthing fees, €6.99 million on maintenance and €5.28 million on crew for the vessel since it was seized three years ago.The MV Matthew was detained off Ballycotton on September 26th, 2023, when Army Rangers fast roped from a helicopter on to the deck of the 189m bulk carrier and prevented crew from destroying 2.2 tonnes of cocaine. The Naval Service vessel LE William Butler Yeats then escorted her to Cork.Members of the Army Ranger Wing boarding the MV Matthew in September 2023. Photograph: Irish Air Corps/PA Wire Six members of the crew – Cumali Ozgen, Soheil Jelveh, Mykhailo Gavryk, Vitaliy Vlasoi, Harold Estoesta and Saeid Hassanin – were jailed for terms ranging from 14 years to 20 years in connection with the haul. Two others arrested on a fishing vessel due to meet them, Jamie Harbron and Vitaliy Lapa, were also given prison terms.According to McGrath, the MV Matthew has cost €120,000 a week to berth and maintain. When he raised the issue last year at an Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee meeting, Cody told him Revenue was still exploring potential purchasers, but they expected the sale value to be very low.McGrath said he had no issue with the costs incurred until December 2nd, 2024, when the ship was retained as evidence as part of the prosecution of those accused of using it for drug smuggling, but it was the costs incurred since, which he put at some €10 million, that were most concerning.Some of the €157 million haul of cocaine seized on the MV Matthew. Photograph: An Garda Síochána/PA Wire “Obviously the seizure of the MV Matthew was a very successful drug interdiction operation involving the Defence Forces, the Garda and Customs and they are to be commended for taking over €150 million worth of cocaine off our streets and off the streets of European cities and towns,” the Cork South-Central TD said.McGrath said the focus of his concern related to why it took so long since to dispose of the vessel.“Niall Cody did explain at the Public Accounts Committee the difficulties that Revenue was facing, the regulatory framework, the fact that the ship was originally registered in Panama, so I don’t underestimate it was quite complex from a legal and regulatory point of view,” he added. “But I do think, in the cold light of day, we do have to look at this to see if a similar scenario arises again, how we can dispose of the vessel in a more cost-effective and timely manner. We have to review that and that’s what I will be asking the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance to do.”Revenue said it would be issuing a statement in due course about the MV Matthew, which was due to depart Marino Point at 6pm on Friday.