British and Irish naval vessels were heading towards the Co Down coast today to search for the bodies of three generations of a family whose fishing boat disappeared last Thursday.
The Royal Navy mine-hunter HMS Bridport, equipped with underwater cameras and scanning equipment, was due to arrive this evening, said the British Ministry of Defence.
And the North’s Fisheries Minister, Ms Brid Rodgers, earlier told the Northern Assembly an Irish naval vessel was being mobilised from its Cork base and was expected to arrive on scene early tomorrow morning.
Fifty-four-year-old Michael Greene, his 32-year-old son and eight-year-old grandson, also both called Michael, never returned after setting out on a final fishing expedition from Kilkeel on the Co Down coast, on their small boat Tullaghmurry Lasson February 14th.
The vessel had been due to be scrapped as part of fish conservation plans involving the reduction of the North’s fishing fleet.
Mrs Rodgers said: "I know that the whole house will join with me in expressing our very deep sympathies to the Greene family and the entire fishing community on this unspeakable tragedy."
Having visited the grief-stricken family, the minister said the main concern now was to find the boat and recover the bodies of their loved ones.
As all hope of finding the three alive evaporated over the weekend the Coastguard called off the rescue operation and a recovery operation took its place.
Up to 20 local trawlers and a lifeboat spent much of yesterday trying to locate the missing vessel and the serach resumed this morning.
Two inspectors from the British Marine Accident Investigation Branch in Southampton have also arrived in Kilkeel to investigate the loss of the fishing boat.
PA