An investigation has started into how a ferry carrying more than 300 passengers was holed below the waterline in Dun Laoghaire harbour yesterday morning.
The investigation will be completed "in days", according to the Department of the Marine.
Three holes were ripped in the starboard side of the high-speed Stena Line catamaran, HSS Explorer, as it came in to berth at about 11.30 a.m. yesterday. The ferry hit one of the mooring posts installed at the harbour to guide the vessel into dock.
Within two minutes the Department of the Marine was notified, Dun Laoghaire lifeboat was alerted and a rescue helicopter was sent to the scene. A lifeboat in Howth was also put on standby.
Mr Eamonn Hewitt, Stena Line's communications manager, confirmed that divers had found a third hole below the waterline, as well as the two visible above water. The largest of these measured 8 ft by 4 ft.
Water was taken into the outer shell of the vessel, causing it to list. Kept afloat with instantly-activated buoyancy devices on board, it was towed into the dock. Though rescue teams and fire and ambulance crews were on standby, there were no reports of any injuries. The 322 passengers, 70 cars and freight disembarked normally.
Passengers said there was no sense of panic after the impact. Mr Paul Lynch, from Cheshire, said everyone on board felt the boat hitting against the mooring posts.
"It shook the whole ship quite violently. I don't think anyone was frightened. It was quite exciting really," he said. He added that the captain then announced there was a "slight problem".
The 8.55 a.m. ferry from Holyhead, Anglesea, was berthing when the ship was caught by a gust of wind and blown forcefully against one of the mooring posts, termed "mooring dolphins" on the quayside, said Mr Hewitt. "In normal circumstances the fenders on the mooring dolphins are able to withstand the force of a ferry coming in to berth, but for some reason, on this occasion, the fender broke off and fell, causing the damage to the boat," he said.
Mr Michael Hanahoe, chief executive of Dun Laoghaire Harbour Company, said he could not comment on whether the mooring dolphins were at fault.
"We have our own marine engineers carrying out an investigation at the moment. The mooring dolphins were put in at Stena Line's request for safety in berthing," he said. "They were built to Stena Line's design."
Mr Hewitt stressed that at no time were passengers in any danger and that no water was taken on to either passenger or car decks.
Passengers who were planning to get the ferry from Dun Laoghaire to Holyhead (the Explorer's return trip) at lunchtime yesterday were told they would be bussed to Dublin Port for the 9.45 p.m. Irish Ferries sailing to Holyhead.
Weather conditions were not unusually rough yesterday morning, said Met Eireann. Winds at Dublin Airport at 11 a.m. yesterday were 20 knots, gusting 35 knots and gusting 33 knots at noon.
HSS Explorer would not be allowed back to sea until Department of the Marine officials were satisfied of its safety, a spokesman said. Intending passengers on the Stena Line route between Holyhead, Anglesea and Dun Laoghaire should contact Stena Line at (01) 204 7777.
