Air and sea search for missing Irish crewman is called off

The search for the Naval Service crewman who went missing from the LE Eithne on Atlantic passage yesterday has been called off by the Canadian Coastguard.

A memorial service for the missing man, Able Seaman Robert Dean (20), from Cork city, was held by Naval Service chaplain, Father Des Campion, on board the patrol ship last night some 920 miles west of Bantry.

The LE Eithne will continue its home journey to Ireland today following an extensive search of a 100-square-mile sea area yesterday, assisted by a Canadian Coastguard aircraft and a tug. The ship had been in the US as part of the Cutty Sark Tall Ships race.

The 20-year-old was last seen at 3.50 a.m. Irish time yesterday when he was due to go on watch. At about 4.05 a.m., five minutes after he had failed to report for duty, the alert was raised and all quarters on the vessel were checked. At 4.20 a.m. the ship altered course, retraced its track and began a sea search.

Weather conditions were reported favourable at the time, with a low sea swell and good visibility. The Canadian Coastguard despatched a fixed wing aircraft, and two merchant ships also joined the search, led by the LE Eithne under Cmdr Jim Robinson.

Sea temperatures were reported to be 17 degrees, which would give a survival time of 18 hours by Coastguard estimates. Hypothermia is normally the biggest risk during extended periods in water, as the body loses heat 26 times quicker than on land. However, the seaman would not have been wearing any survival gear. Able Seaman Dean has only been in the Naval Service for a year, with the US visit his first sea trip abroad. The Atlantic crossing was the second undertaken by the vessel, and involved visiting three US ports - Newport in Rhode Island, New York and Boston - as part of the Tall Ships festival. The sail training vessel, Asgard II, has also been participating in the Tall Ships race.

Since its foundation over 50 years ago, the Naval Service has only lost one seaman on operational duty, Leading Seaman Michael Quinn from Drogheda, Co Louth, who died in January 1990 during an attempt to rescue a Spanish fishing vessel which ran aground with 17 crew on board after it put out to sea during a storm warning in Bantry Bay. The 27-year-old seaman, who was posthumously decorated by the Spanish government for his efforts, had volunteered as coxswain of a Gemini inflatable craft which was launched from the LE Deirdre to locate the Spanish vessel.