Divers search for missing fishermen
Naval divers are searching the wreck of the trawler, Pere Charles, which sank six days ago in a bid to recover the bodies of the five missing crewmen.
A team of 14 divers are investigating the sea bed off the south east coast where the vessel vanished claiming the lives of the fishermen.
Five men – Tom Hennessy, Pat Hennessy, Pat Coady, Billy O’Connor and Andriy Dyrin – have been missing since the Pere Charles vanished during stormy seas off Hook Head.
The men were believed to have been trapped in the wheelhouse sheltering from the weather when the boat went down in seconds.
The trawler is around 35 metres underwater, two and a half miles from Dunmore East.
Ger Hegarty, of the Irish Coastguard, said the forecast is clear until this afternoon.
“This is the first break we have had in the weather since last Wednesday and it is expected to be clear until later today,” he said.
“In that time we have to do as much as possible.
“The divers went down at 9am, but it depends on the weather conditions under water and visibility as to what will happen down there.”
Searches are also continuing for the Kinsale-based vessel, the Honeydew II, which went down only a few hours later.
Two men are still missing from that boat, which sank 20 miles from the Pere Charles near Mine Head.
Navy vessels, local fishermen and the customs boat the Surveyor are carrying out sea and shoreline searches for the missing trawler and its crewmen.
The Honeydew’s skipper Ger Bohan and crewman Tomasz Jagla are missing. Two other crew members from the trawler were rescued from a lifeboat last week.
