Police divers today began an examination of the wreckage of a fishing boat which sank off the Northern Ireland coast with the loss of three generations of the same family.
Perfect weather condition and a flat calm sea finally arrived, allowing the divers to use sophisticated underwater surveillance equipment shipped in from England.
The team plans to videotape the wreckage as part of the investigation into how and why the boat, Tullaghmurry Lass, went down seven miles off its home port of Kilkeel, Co Down.
Only after a full survey of the vessel has been carried out will the divers begin to tamper with the wreckage, which is on the sea bed in more than 130 feet of water, to see if the bodies of any of the Greene family are inside.
Fisherman Michael Greene, 54, his 32-year-old son and eight-year-old grandson, both also called Michael, were lost when the fishing boat sank in the middle of February.
The wreck was only found last week after weeks of searching.
An exclusion zone was declared around the wreck yesterday to keep away amateur divers.
The survey operation is expected to take two days, as divers can only stay in the deep water for nine minutes at a time.
PA