Inside huge rusting ship bought for less than £1 that's about to go to scrapyard

20 August 2023 , 15:31

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The MV Naomh Eanna ferried people to and from the Aran Islands decades ago (Image: PA)

A massive metal ship is set to be scrapped, despite the best efforts of local campaigners to save the historic vessel.

The MV Naomh Eanna was built in Dublin in the 1950s and weighs a massive 483 tonnes. Despite plans to turn it into a five star hotel or a floating museum the Naomh Eanna is unfortunately now being scrapped.

The vessel was the main mode of transport for locals going from Co Galway to the Aran Islands in Ireland in the 1960s. It stopped making the trip in the 1980s and was sadly left to rot in Dublin's Grand Canal Dock for the next 43 years.

In that time the MV Naomh Eanna has become something of a local feature. Several attempts have been made to put the rusting hulk to good use, with businesses and local community groups launching plans to save it.

She was the main mode of transport connecting Co Galway to the Aran Islands from the 1960s until the 1980s

The Irish Ship and Barge Fabrication Company Limited bought the vessel from the Irish Nautical Trust for €1 (86p) in 2015, reports the Daily Star.. But their plans to restore the vessel came undone due to a lack of funds.

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Campaign groups have tried to repair it and save the historic site but sadly the boat is now in the process of being scrapped. Plans to turn the vessel into a five-star hotel fell through when it capsized in January 2023, leaving it with very little hope of anything happening to it in the future. Meanwhile plans to turn it into a floating museum were refused by Galway City Council.

The ship has capsized in the Grand Canal dock in Dublin (PA)

Locals waited to hear news of the vessel’s future and this week a sign was placed near it detailing that the scrappage would start soon. Just two days later workers began work on the mammoth task of breaking down the huge boat into viable scrap metal. On August 17 experts began their work.

The process involves refloating the massive hulk, with plans to scrap it from the top down over the next few weeks. However, before it was scrapped, urban explorers from Uncharted Ireland managed to get inside the boat to showcase the sad state the historic ship had become.

Adam Cailler