Salvage of Trawlers to begin next Month
September 27th, 2007The company has been chosen to raise two trawlers which sank off Hook Head with the loss of seven men and work is due to get underway in October.
Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey last week announced that Irish Diving Contractors Ltd. have been awarded the contract to raise the Pere Charles and the Maggie B.
The remains of Duncormick’s Pat Coady, Tom and Pat Hennessy, Billy O’Connor and Andriy Dyrin have never been recovered following the sinking of the Pere Charles two miles south east of Hook Head on January 10 last.
Glen Cott and his crewmate Jan Sankowski were lost when the Maggie B sank on March 29, 2006. It currently lies 50 metres below the surface around five miles south of Hook Head.
The successful company, Irish Diving Contractors Ltd, is based in Lusk, north Co. Dublin.
It is expected that the vessels, once raised, will be brought to Arklow, where they will be examined by surveyors of the Department of Transport,’ said a spokesperson for the Department of Transport.
Subject to suitable weather and sea conditions, the vessels are expected in Arklow in October,’ she added.
Junior Minister John Browne said that the raising of the vessels would take place as soon as possible, weather permitting. He said he hoped that it would bring some closure to the families involved following a very traumatic time in their lives.
We are all very conscious of recent tragedies in the fishing sector which have led to the tragic loss of lives at sea,’ said Transport Minister Noel Dempsey.
The safety of fishing vessels is a high priority for me and the raising of these two trawlers will allow us to learn if any further improvements are necessary in the specified standards for the seaworthiness of fishing vessels. We must do all we can to prevent similar tragedies in the future,’ he said.
The decision to raise the boats followed a campaign by the family members of the five men lost when the Pere Charles sank.
They commissioned reports from commercial divers and salvage consultants, which suggest the methods used to search the boat by naval divers, who used underwater cameras - as they did with the Maggie B - mean it is impossible to be absolutely sure there are no bodies on board.
source: Wexfordpeople