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Ship at centre of record cocaine seizure finally leaves Cork

Niall Glynn,BBC News NIand
Adam Mandeville,BBC News NI
BBC Picture taken from the air, showing the MV Matthew docked in Cork Harbour. It is a large cargo ship, painted mostly red, with a black middle, with MATTHEW written on the front in white capital letters. Ropes can be seen holding it in place and it is on water. On the dockside are small houses, with trees and a town beyond.BBC
The Panama-registered MV Matthew has been in Cork harbour since September 2023

A ship detained at Cork port since 2.2 tonnes of cocaine worth an estimated €157m (£133.5m) was seized on it in September 2023 has finally left the harbour.

Managing and maintaining the MV Matthew since then has cost the Irish state around €17m.

The 28,000-tonne Panama-registered freighter could not be disposed of until December 2024 as it was needed for evidential purposes.

An international shipping company later acquired the vessel for a nominal price of $1 with an agreement to tow the vessel to Varna in Bulgaria.

PA Media Picture issued by the police showing the recovered cocaine shipment. Piled on wooden pallets, small rectangular blocks are wrapped in black plastic. They are in front of a white wall with posters showing the logos of the Irish authorities.PA Media
The 2.2 tonnes of cocaine had an estimated value of more than €157m (£136)

The Republic of Ireland's Revenue service confirmed its departure on Saturday.

While berthed at Cork the costs included maintaining engine, electrical and ventilation systems.

Eight men were jailed for a total of 129 years last summer in connection with the record drugs seizure.

Dr Atanas Rusev, from the Centre for the Study of Democracy, said managing "such big, complex, high-value assets is a big drainage for public finance".

"You usually need to coordinate between various authorities and deal with various legal proceedings," he said.

Rusev added that this happening to a vessel this large is "rare" and that Irish authorities had dealt with the ship "relatively quickly".

"Sometimes it takes five, 10, 15 years."