Five crewmen missing after trawler sinks off Wexford coast
A major search is underway for the crew of a Wexford fishing vessel that sank off the south-east coast yesterday.
The Pierre Charles, which was based in Dunmore East, sank in heavy seas three miles from Hook Head at around 6pm.
The vessel had five men on board, four from Kerry and Wexford and one from eastern Europe.
Local sources have named the skipper as Thomas Hennessy, a married father of two girls who is in his 30s and originally from Kerry.
His uncle, Pat Hennessy, who is in his 50s and also from Kerry, was on board with him, along with married father Billy O'Connor and 27-year-old father-of-one Pat Coady, originally from Duncormick in Wexford.
The eastern European man has not been named.
Two lifeboats and two coastguard helicopters were sent to the Hook Head area after a distress signal was picked up yesterday evening, but they found no trace of the missing crew.
The search, which also involves a number of local fishing vessels, is due to resume at first light this morning, but is being hampered by bad weather.
Rescuers are hoping the crew managed to make it onto a life raft before the trawler went down.
