Prosecutor to investigate sinking of Ardglass trawler

A file has been sent to the North's Public Prosecution Service following an investigation into the sinking of a trawler off the…

A file has been sent to the North's Public Prosecution Service following an investigation into the sinking of a trawler off the Co Down coast in which two men died.

The Greenhill sank near Ardglass on January 19th, claiming the lives of Donall Gibson (22) and father-of two Conor Bogues (26). Mr Bogues' body has still to be found.

The skipper, Conrad Zych (27), survived after he was picked up in a life raft by the Portaferry lifeboat soon after the trawler hit rocks and sank.

None of the fishermen was wearing a life jacket.

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The wreck of the Greenhill is lying in about 25 metres of water and a fresh attempt to raise it is being intensified.

The recovery operation, which began last week, is being attempted to prevent further loss of life.

It is also understood the PSNI will take part in further examination of the wreck site.

Alex Slater of the Fishermen's Mission said the wreckage of the Greenhill was causing problems for other trawlers.

"It is only half a nautical mile off the harbour and if she breaks up, then smaller boats going into Ardglass may well hit any debris from her, especially any heavy big planks like the ribs or keel of the ship.

"If that was to rise and to hit another ship that could cause serious damage. We have lost two men already and we don't want to lose any more in Ardglass."

An investigation into the sinking has found that the vessel's wheelhouse was not manned when it got into difficulties.

The Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) has reported that the skipper left the wheelhouse to help his two colleagues with their nets.

Blaming the vessel's skipper, Chief Inspector Stephen Meyer said the accident could have been avoided if someone had remained at the wheel.

"It's fundamental to what happened here. If he [ the skipper] had been in the wheelhouse the vessel would not have run on to the rocks and there wouldn't have been an accident." The MAIB said if proper safety measures, including the wearing of life jackets, were followed, the rate of deaths at sea could be halved.

However, the practice of a skipper helping crew members is particularly common and fishing communities are said to be traditionally resistant to new procedures.

Dick James from the Northern Ireland Fishing Federation said the practice of leaving the wheelhouse to help the crew had been forced upon trawler skippers.

"The reason for it happening is purely economics - that we're not carrying the crews these days because of the economics of the boat to have the luxury, in many cases, of leaving a man in the wheelhouse," he told the BBC.