Efforts continued last night from a position about 40 miles off the Mayo coast to tow the Canadian submarine, HMCS Chicoutimi, to Faslane in Scotland, three days after it was immobilised by fire while en route across the Atlantic.
The Canadian authorities issued a preliminary request to the Government last night for access to an Irish port for the NATO submarine if required during the towing operation.
The Minister of State for the Marine, Mr Pat The Cope Gallagher, said the request was made as a contingency in the event of worsening weather or other difficulties in securing an ocean-going tow. "As an island nation, I'm only too well aware that there are no political or geographic boundaries at sea," he said.
Earlier yesterday, Mr Gallagher conveyed the sympathies of the Irish people to the Canadian Ambassador, Mr Mark Moher, on the death of one of the officers on board, Lieut Chris Saunders (32).
Lieut Saunders, a combat systems engineer, was married with two boys aged two and three months. He died before he reached Sligo General Hospital by a Royal Navy Sea King helicopter on Wednesday night.
One of his two colleagues also airlifted to hospital due to smoke inhalation was described as "serious " and in intensive care in Sligo General Hospital, while the other crewman was described as being in a stable condition.
A post-mortem is due to be carried out on Lieut Saunders today by the State Pathologist, Dr Marie Cassidy, in conjunction with a senior Canadian medical officer. Mr Moher visited the crewmen in Sligo yesterday. Both were said to be exhausted and distressed.
Six other crew suffering from smoke inhalation were described as improving on board the submarine, which was drifting in a southerly direction towards the Irish coast since the alert was raised on Tuesday afternoon over 100 miles west-north-west of Arranmore island, Co Donegal.
Three British Navy vessels and two tugs were on scene, along with the Naval Service patrol ship, LE Aoife, which served as on-scene search-and-rescue commander when the submarine entered the Irish search zone.
Commodore Tyrone Pile, commander of Canadian Fleet Atlantic, said yesterday the crew had restored some auxiliary power, which would greatly help the towing operation. Weather conditions were easing significantly and he hoped some of the crew members would be transferred to one of the Royal Navy ships for a period to get hot food and showers.
It was agreed last night that only essential crew would stay on the submarine during the towing.
Asked about the mood on board, Commodore Pile quoted the submarine's commander who had said: "I have a bunch of rock stars on board and I would sail anywhere with these guys. These guys saved the boat and I am extremely proud of what they have done."
Commenting yesterday on the 30-hour delay in airlifting the three crewmen from the submarine after the fires, Mr Gallagher said this was a question for the British authorities as the incident had occurred in its search-and-rescue zone. However, the British Ministry of Defence said it was a matter for the Canadian authorities, who would be investigating the incident fully.
The official investigation is also expected to focus on the condition of the submarine when purchased from Britain, one of a series of four costing US$900 million.
The British and Canadian military authorities had first reported that the submarine had experienced a minor fire on Tuesday, but by Wednesday afternoon they admitted it was a major blaze which damaged key electrical cables, injuring nine submariners and leaving the vessel drifting on the surface and almost powerless.
An initial press release from the Canadian Department of National Defence in Ottawa had stated that "the crew is safe" and said that "several sailors experienced smoke inhalation" but did not require evacuation. However, after a Royal Navy doctor from the HMS Montrose went on board the submarine on Wednesday, a request was made to airlift three of the men to hospital.
A Royal Navy Sea King helicopter, which had been on standby since Tuesday at Carrickfin airport, Co Donegal, flew to the scene and was en route to Altnagelvin Hospital in Derry when the condition of Lieut Saunders deteriorated. A decision was taken to divert to Sligo General but he was dead on arrival.
The Canadian defence minister, Mr Bill Graham, said he had no plans to halt operations of the submarines leased from Britain.