£17 million medication ferry bought for simply £1 after ‘largest ever amount’ seized on board
The Irish government sold the ship for less than one pound, despite having spent millions maintaining and repairing the vessel following the dramatic seizure of tonnes of drugs from onboard
This ship cost less than a quid (Image: PA)
A record breaking supersized drug smuggling ship has been sold for less than a quid by the Irish State after spending a whopping €17 million to maintain it.
The MV Matthew was used to illegally transport a whopping 2.2 tonnes of cocaine into the country by drug smugglers, with the illegal cargo having a street value of around £133.5m. With eight members of its criminal crew were convicted back in 2025, the carrier has been sitting in a Cork port and costing the government a huge sum to look after it.
Explaining the huge outlay, Irish government statement said: “Given its size, the MV Matthew represents a significant environmental and ecological risk, as well as an economic risk to the operations of the Port of Cork, requiring it to be crewed and maintained on a continuous basis.
Officials found huge quantities of cocaine onboard the ship (Image: PA)
“All necessary actions for the safe and secure management of the vessel since its detention have been undertaken by Revenue. This has necessarily incurred, and continues to incur, significant costs relating to insuring and crewing of the vessel, provisioning, bunkering fuel, supplies, berthage and other port related costs, essential repairs and maintenance.”
And now, having dropped nearly £15 million on the project, Irish officials have made the eyebrow raising call to flog the massive boat to a private company for just one euro.
The nearly 200 metre long vessel has been acquired by an unnamed shipping company, who are currently in the process of moving the MV Matthew from its temporary home in Cork to Varna in Bulgaria.
Cocaine was stashed around the boat(Image: PA)
The MV Matthew represented the largest ever drug seizure in Irish history, and one of the largest across Europe in recent years.
The drugs were seized from the MV Matthew during a major operation involving several Irish agencies.
Elite Army Rangers abseiled onto the vessel after it was pursued by the Irish Naval Service.
Armed police raided the vessel(Image: PA)
The dramatic interception took place in dangerous weather conditions as the ship carried out evasive manoeuvres in an apparent attempt to avoid capture.
The Panama-registered vessel had sailed from Curaçao, off the coast of Venezuela, and crossed the Atlantic before reaching Irish waters.
Eight men from several countries including the Netherlands and Iran were jailed for a combined 121 years as a result of the capture.
