Fishing tragedy: Trawler 'not seaworthy'
A fishing trawler which sank off the Co Wexford coast drowning members of three generations of a family was not seaworthy, overloaded and unstable, a report published today revealed.
The 26ft Pisces was not carrying enough lifesaving equipment and would not have qualified for a passenger boat licence when it sank last year, drowning four men and a teenage boy.
Investigators who studied the tragedy said their findings made “grim reading“.
John O’Donnell, chairman of the Marine Casualty Investigation Board, said the Pisces was not seaworthy and should not have been in the water.
“Water was ingressing into the boat at an alarming rate,” he said.
“By the time the skipper realised how serious the situation was he could do nothing really about it.
“I’m sure that the people who went on board that day felt they were safe getting on.
“In fact they were not.”
The Pisces sank off the coast of Fethard-on-sea last July, killing five of the 10 people on board.
Those lost included three generations of the same family – New Ross undertaker James Cooney, his son-in-law Seamus Doyle and grandson Mark Doyle.
Family friends Martin Roche and John Cullen also died.
