Phosphorous bomb search at sea blocked

The Government has stalled on purchasing underwater surveillance equipment which could determine the source of the phosphorous munitions washed up on the east coast this week.

For about £250,000 a package including a submersible or remotely operated vehicle (ROV), sidescan sonar, magnetometer and diving equipment could pinpoint the source - which may be either the Beaufort Dyke arms dump or a sunken munitions vessel in the Irish Sea. The equipment could also be used for search and rescue.

Eight more devices found yesterday morning brought the total number discovered along the east coast since Wednesday to 23. A public warning is still in force.

The Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources, Dr Woods, who has deployed IMES units to monitor the coastline for more devices, has been in touch with his British counterparts over the last 48 hours, but he is hampered by lack of precise information on the source.

The proposal to purchase an ROV and other underwater surveillance equipment was made by the Naval Service in the wake of the loss of the Donegal fishing vessel Carrickatine in November 1995 with six crew on board. The crew were never found, and an extensive sea search was unable to locate the vessel.

During the search, which cost an estimated £1 million and lasted three months, an ROV was chartered from Scotland, along with a team of operators. However, the lost time spent on hiring the device, along with the cost, convinced those involved that there was a strong case to buy one for permanent use by the Defence Forces.

Navy divers can work to depths of 50 metres or over 150 feet, but the type of ROV considered for their use can reach depths of 610 metres or 2,000 feet - covering about 75 per cent of the Irish seabed, and twice the depth of the Beaufort Dyke between Northern Ireland and Scotland. Following the discovery of phosphorous devices off the Donegal coast three years ago, the then Minister of State for the Marine, Mr Eamon Gilmore, pressed Britain for action on Beaufort's Dyke.

It was believed that work on the natural gas pipeline between Northern Ireland and Scotland had disturbed the seabed where munitions were dumped between the 1920s and 1976. At the time, Mr Gilmore and his British counterparts agreed the best scientific advice was that the munitions should not be moved, but water quality and fish samples should be monitored. Early surveys showed the samples did not contain chemical warfare agents, or elemental phosphorous. Edible fish and shellfish were also cleared.