Search for missing fisherman to resume

A SEARCH will resume at first light today for a fisherman missing after his boat sank off Cork harbour yesterday morning as he and another man were fishing for lobster.

The Carraig An Eisc, fishing out of Crosshaven, sank in Ringabella Bay shortly before 11am yesterday and the alarm was raised when the other man managed to swim ashore.

The fisherman (42) was reported missing and the Irish Coast Guard launched a search operation which continued until darkness fell.

The Ballycotton lifeboat, the Crosshaven inshore boat and five local fishing vessels were joined in the search by the Irish Coast Guard helicopter from Waterford.

Members of the Crosshaven Coast Guard carried out searches onshore, while the LE Emer acted as on-scene co-ordinator for the search operation.

Divers from the LE Emer found the wreck of the Carraig An Eisc, a half-decker, in six metres of water near where it had been last seen on the southern side of Ringabella Bay.

A Naval Service spokesman said the seabed around the wreck was searched to a radius of 300 metres.

However, the missing man, who is from Mahon in Cork city, was not found.

The ship’s divers were joined by a dive team from the Naval base and a second dive began shortly after 3pm, but there was no trace of the missing man.

Naval Service divers will resume their search this morning while the search area has been expanded along the coastline from Myrtleville to Robert’s Cove.