Photo: Stockfile/FIS

German Super Trawler Detained for Suspected Fisheries Infringements Arrives in Cork

REPUBLIC OF IRELAND
Tuesday, February 18, 2025, 10:00 (GMT + 9)

A German factory fishing vessel, the Helen Mary, has been escorted to Cork Harbour this morning after being detained at sea on Sunday by the European Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA), reports Niall O'Connor for The Journal.

The Helen Mary, owned by Oderbank Hochseefischerei GmbH (Sassnitz, Germany) and operated by the Dutch group Parlevliet & Van der Plas (IJmuiden, Netherlands), was boarded by the crew of the EFCA's Ocean Protector approximately 100 nautical miles off the Cork coast. Sources indicate that a damaged or faulty boarding ladder was among the suspected violations

EFCA's Ocean Protector

The Ocean Protector is currently at anchor in Cork Harbour, having arrived earlier this morning. The Helen Mary entered the harbor shortly after 10 a.m. and proceeded to Tivoli docks further upriver in Cork City.

A spokeswoman for the Sea Fisheries Protection Authority (SFPA) confirmed the EFCA's involvement. While the Irish Navy is often associated with fisheries enforcement, the EFCA's participation falls under a "Joint Deployment Plan."

The German registered supertrawler Helen Mary is escorted into Tivoli Docks, Cork by the tug boats Gerry O'Sullivan and Alex after being detained off the South Coast by the European Fisheries Control Agency patrol boat. Picture: courtesy Dan Linehan

The SFPA spokeswoman stated that the vessel was detained because the EFCA "detected suspected infringements of European fisheries legislation involving a sea-fishing vessel in the Irish Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ)."

"The Joint Deployment Plans (JDP) framework provides the legal basis where the relationships of joint deployment of inspections assets/inspectors are set and are applicable to all assets of the concerned Member States and EFCA. When operating in EU waters, the EFCA inspectors always have Union Inspectors from Members States onboard, and they are the leading inspectors. The vessel has been directed to Cork port," she explained.

A Garda Síochána (Irish police) spokeswoman confirmed this afternoon that a man in his 40s has been arrested on board the ship and is being questioned at a Cork Garda station.

"Gardaí received a report of an incident of alleged fishery breaches in the Port of Cork, County Cork. A man in his 40s has been arrested and conveyed to a Garda Station in County Cork and is being detained under the provisions of the Fisheries and Maritime Jurisdiction Act 2006. The investigation is ongoing," she said.

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