The operation to transport two Aran Island ferries to Mauritius has been delayed for a fourth time.
The first ferry, the Clann Na nOilean, was loaded onto the deck of the cargo ship, the Thor Gitta, this morning.
However, the operation to secure the 76 tonne vessel on the deck took longer than expected this afternoon.
The loading of the second ferry, the Clann Eagle, has now been postponed until 9am tomorrow morning.
It is hoped that the 7,000 tonne Danish-registered vessel will be able to leave Galway for Mauritius at tomorrow evening.
Two attempts in previous weeks to load the ferries onto the deck of the Thor Gitta have been unsuccessful.
On the first attempt three men were injured when a sling broke as one of the ferries was being hoisted. It fell 12m back into the sea.
The second attempt to lift the ferries was abandoned when an alarm on the Thor Gitta's lifting crane went off.
A previous attempt to transport the ferries to Mauritius had to be abandoned when another freighter, the Pantanal, ran aground and was holed during a storm at Rossaveal.
