Seized cocaine bulker changes hands for $1

 An unnamed international shipping company has taken over the 2001-built supramax bulker Matthew. The 50,913 dwt Panama-flagged ship has left the Port of Cork under tow for Varna, Bulgaria, using a single-voyage exemption covering a dead-ship tow.

Revenue seized the vessel in September 2023 after a joint operation uncovered 2.2 tonnes of cocaine valued at €157m. The haul was Ireland’s largest-ever cocaine seizure and the largest recorded in Europe that year.

Members of the Irish Army Ranger Wing fast-roped onto the ship from a helicopter during the interdiction. Six crew members and two men from the support vessel Castlemore were later convicted and handed prison terms ranging from 13-and-a-half to 20 years.   The sale could not move ahead until December 2024 because the bulker was still required as evidence. No party claimed ownership after the seizure, leaving Revenue to maintain the ship and complete title registration with the Panama Maritime Authority in December 2025.   Irish broadcaster RTÉ reported that the vessel is expected to be refitted in Bulgaria and returned to commercial service carrying grain in the Black Sea.