A recent controversy has emerged for thirteen cargo ships of the Aughinish Alumina plant, Europe's largest alumina refinery owned by Rusal, serving the aluminium oxide refinery in Co. Limerick. These thirteen cargo ships have been detained by the Irish authorities in recent years, which is more than any other port in the State.
On the grounds of defective rising safety concerns, lack of proper training and poor crew condition, these thirteen cargo ships of the Aughinish Alumina plant have been detained. Moreover, the majority of the cargo detention by the Irish authorities, taking place since 2020, has emerged from the Aughinish port out of 28 total official ports within the State.
Cargoes which are docked at the Aughinish Port mainly serve the Aughinish alumina plant, which is deemed to be one of the largest aluminium refineries located in Europe. This is located near the Shannon-estuary towns of Askeaton and Foynes, which Rusal owns. Many shipping companies that operate the vessels bring in bauxite and further export the finished aluminium products to Russia and other regions.
As per the analysis by The Irish Times, from 2020 to the present, the Irish maritime authorities have conducted a total of 232 inspections of ships at the refinery's port located on the Shannon Estuary. During these inspections, the inspectors have located more than 351 faults in almost all the inspected vessels.
One cargo ship, namely, the River Global, flagged at the Marshall Islands in the Pacific, showed 17 defects upon inspection, which mainly occurred due to a lack of awareness among the crews concerning abandon-ship drills. In this, the 190-metre bulk carrier also had improper working conditions along with absent personal protective equipment.
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Thirteen detained ships, after a few days, had been released on the grounds of undertaking immediate sailing repair as agreed, addressing the identified issues. The detention period lasted for 7 days. Spanning these seven days, additional detention took place at the Aughinish port.
A total of 513 ships in Dublin were detained since 2020, and 10 others from other locations had been detained. Following this, 290 boats were under inspection at Cork, among which three ships were detained.
Apart from the Aughinish port, Foynes port, a port located further up the Shannon Estuary, adjudging the majority of the region's cargo traffic has also reported a higher detention rate. In this port, since 2020, approximately 155 ships have been inspected, among which 11 were detained.
Ireland enforces its maritime obligations with the Port State Control (PSC) regime under the PSC Directive, which conducted more than 1,500 PSC inspections, distinguished from 2020 as the start of "the new normal", where only 53 ships were detained. Evora was banned in the last few years, detained in Galway Bay by Irish Authorities in 2019 and then left without proper notification.
The Department of Transport confirmed that inspections are conducted based on risk factors, including vessel type, age, flag state, company performance and past inspection records.
Also read: Rusal's alumina refinery in Limerick faces energy market suspension
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