Salvage experts were last night slowly lifting the wreck of the Maggie Btrawler from the seabed hoping the sunken hull would be at the surface early today. The vessel sank off the Co Waterford coast in March 2006, with the loss of skipper Glynn Cott (30) and Polish crewman Jan Sankowski (45).
A Dutch crane barge hired by Irish salvage company Irish Diving Contractors arrived in Dunmore East late on Saturday night and left port yesterday at about 11am to make its way to the spot where the Maggie Bsank five miles south of Hook Head.
According to Mick McGarry of the Coast Guard, the plan was to first raise the Maggie Bbefore salvaging the Pere Charles, which sank in January, 2007, about 2.5 miles (4km) off Hook Head, with the loss of five lives.
Sea conditions were good yesterday and it was hoped to raise the 15-metre steel-hulled Maggie Blate last night, but it was unclear last night how much progress had been made in getting lines to the trawler, which lies in about 50 metres of water.
Meanwhile, the families of those lost on board the Maggie Band the Pere Charlesbegan another vigil in Dunmore East port as they waited for news of the salvage.
Glynn Cott's sister, Sharon, had travelled from her home in Ballycotton along with her parents, Con and Margaret, and other relatives and friends to watch the salvage operation through binoculars from the cliffs. "It's been a long campaign for us to have the Maggie Braised - ever since she went down. It's been a question of having her raised for two reasons - to determine if there is anybody still on board and to try and find out why she sank," she said.
Watching the salvage operation against a grey backdrop of sky and sea was an emotionally draining experience for the Cotts.
"It was traumatic. It brought everything back - not that everything ever left us. We have a loss and we can never overcome that, so it was with mixed feelings that we watched things today. I'm glad we are after getting a step further and the boat is going to be raised, but it's difficult."
Pat Hennessy, who lost his brother Tomas and his uncle Pat when the Pere Charles went down, was waiting for news on a timeframe for the recovery - and deferred travelling from his home in the Maharees until today. "I'm coming down myself and my parents are coming down, but we're not in a terrible hurry because to be honest this has dragged on so long now we will wait until we are sure that it's happening.
"A lot of them will wait out until the last minute because they gave 17 days down there in January and it was a nightmare. There's nothing worse than hanging around on the pier, listening to rumours - it's brutal," he said.