The search for seven missing fishermen lost when two trawlers sank off the south coast last week looks set to be confined to shore and surface today as stormy weather conditions will prevent divers from checking underwater for the sunken vessels.
However, it is hoped that teams of Navy and Garda divers will be able to carry out a full dive tomorrow for the Dunmore East boat, the Père Charles, after a team of Naval Service divers yesterday marked its location just over two miles off Hook Head in Co Wexford. The fishing vessel is believed to have sunk shortly after 6pm last Wednesday. The five men on board are missing.
A team of Naval Service divers under Lieut Tony O'Regan were brought close to the site by the LE Eithne before six divers boarded a rigid inflatable boat and travelled to the co-ordinates where they believe the steel-hulled trawler is lying on the seabed some 30 metres below the surface.
Lieut O'Regan told The Irish Times that although they did put two divers into the water, strong winds and heavy swells made it too dangerous to continue with the mission and they withdrew them after about 20 minutes.
"It was Force 4 and 5 out there and we managed to get two divers down to around 15 metres but it was far too turbulent down there - they were getting thrown about so we had to call it off - it was simply too dangerous," he said.
The weather later worsened to Force 7 winds and today the weather is expected to worsen to Gale Force 8, though the dive teams are hoping that with an improvement tomorrow morning, they may get an opportunity to dive then for the Père Charles.
Relatives of the missing crew of the Père Charles, Tom and Pat Hennessy, Pat Coady, and Billy O'Connor, maintained another long day of vigil in Dunmore East yesterday, waiting for news of their loved ones and fellow crew member, Ukrainian Andriy Dyrin.
Minister of State for Transport Pat the Cope Gallagher, who has responsibility for coastal search operations, met the relatives in Dunmore East and assured them that all resources would be made available to ensure the recovery of the bodies.
Meanwhile Mary Bohan, wife of missing Kinsale skipper Ger Bohan of the Honeydew II, also travelled to Dunmore East yesterday afternoon where she met the search co-ordinators as well as the grieving relatives of the crew of the Père Charles. Anita Jagla, the wife of missing Honeydew II crewman Tomasz Jagla, also travelled to Co Waterford yesterday and watched the search operation at Bonmahon.
Two crewmen from the Honeydew II, which got into difficulties early last Thursday, were rescued from a life raft later that day.
Irish Coast Guard search co-ordinator Ger Hegarty said that searchers had found pieces of timber from the Honeydew including part of the name which was washed up near Kilmore Quay in Co Wexford some 40 miles from where the vessel sank.
"We're finding quite a lot of timbers from the Honeydew from Dunmore East over to Kilmore Quay so clearly she broke up but what's encouraging is that all the debris seems to be coming ashore so we're hoping the two men will be washed ashore too," he said.
The belief that Mr Bohan and Mr Jagla may be washed ashore meant that there was a concentration on shore searches yesterday with at least 300 people combing the coastline from Ardmore in West Waterford over towards Carnsore in Co Wexford.
Around 20 trawlers joined the coastal search.