Violent seas caused trawler's tragic sinking
A trawler which sank just hours after five fishermen drowned in a separate tragedy suddenly flooded and went down after being struck by violent seas, marine investigators said today.
Two crew members perished and two others miraculously survived when the Honeydew II rapidly capsized in stormy conditions off the south-west coast in January 2007.
The tragedy happened within hours of the Pere Charles sinking in neighbouring fishing grounds with the loss of five lives, devastating two coastal communities.
The Marine Casualty Investigation Board (MCIB) said it was incredible there were any survivors from the Honeydew II given the treacherous weather and speed of the incident.
Investigators said either a wave or waves caused sections of the ship’s hull to buckle and catastrophically fail, ultimately causing the ship to sink.
“This allowed a large quantity of water to rapidly flood into the deck shelter space,” the report found.
There were four men on board when it went down in about four minutes roughly three miles off Ram Head, Co Waterford, at around 3am on January 11, 2007.
Skipper Ger Bohan, 39, drowned along with Polish deck hand 31-year-old Tomasz Jagla while two Lithuanian crewmen, 47-year-old Viktor Losev and Vladimir Kostyr, survived.
Investigators said it was incredible there were any survivors.
“The fact that two crew survived this incident is extraordinary given the weather conditions and the speed at which the incident unfolded,” their report said.
Sea conditions where described as treacherous and Met Eireann had issued a gale and small craft warning.
The MCIB said a massive amount of water rushed through the vessel tipping the boat over after part of the hull buckled and collapsed.
Investigators said it was extremely unlikely that the 22 metre trawler struck something at sea.
But mystery still surrounds aspects of the tragedy, including why no distress signal was transmitted before the boat sank.
The MCIB said Mr Bohan was an experienced skipper and had on two previous occasions contacted the Coast Guard for less dangerous incidents and was familiar with the process.
Mr Losev told investigators he saw Mr Bohan with the radio in his hand shouting for help, but the MCIB said this seemed hard to believe.
The MCIB also said the bridge watchkeeper seemed unaware of the position of the ship or that it was drifting into shallower waters before the incident.
The tragedy stunned coastal communities along the south-west coast, already shocked by the loss of the Pere Charles just hours before.
It sank in just seconds two and a half miles from Co Wexford as the five-man crew prepared to put back into harbour.
