Salvage experts have successfully raised the trawler the Maggie Band repairs have begun on the boat to allow it to be brought to Arklow. There a thorough inspection of the vessel will be carried out to try and find out why it sank with the loss of two crew in March 2006.
A preliminary examination of the boat by Garda divers has found no evidence of bodies on board but this will not be confirmed until the boat is brought to Arklow and its interior thoroughly searched, according to Ger Hegarty of the Irish Coast Guard.
Mr Hegarty said the Dutch salvage experts hired by Irish Diving Contractors would now begin attempts to raise the Pere Charlesat first light this morning, two miles off Hook Head where it sank with the loss of five crew on January 10th this year.
Mr Hegarty explained that the salvage experts brought the Maggie Bto the surface about five miles off Hook Head at about 8am yesterday, using the special crane barge. It strapped the vessel to the barge to bring it within a quarter of a mile of Dunmore Harbour.
The Maggie Bsank on March 29th, 2006, less than 24 hours after leaving Kilmore Quay, Co Wexford, following a complete refit. Skipper Glynn Cott (30) from Ballycotton, Co Cork, and his crewman, Polish father-of-one Jan Sankowski (45), were both lost.
Another Polish crewman, Kryzsztof Pawtowski - who clung to a life raft for more than 50 minutes before being rescued by Dunmore East lifeboat - later told rescuers that the 15-metre steel hulled vessel had sunk in a matter of minutes.
Mr Cott's sisters, Sharon and Anne, and his brother, Alan, were taken out by gardaí yesterday in a Rib, a rigid inflatable boat, to the barge where, accompanied by Ballycotton parish priest Fr Peadar O'Callaghan, they said prayers beside the Maggie Bfor their brother and Mr Sankowski.
Fr O'Callaghan told The Irish Times: "It was very distressing for them. They were able to see into the wheelhouse where Glynn sent two mayday messages; if it wasn't for those messages, nobody would know where the Maggie Bwas lost."
Fr O'Callaghan said the Maggie B'semergency position-indicating radio beacon failed to give its location and name. If it wasn't for Mr Cott's actions in staying in the wheelhouse to send out the distress signals, Mr Pawtowski might never have been rescued.
He said that Mr Cott's parents, Con and Margaret, were hoping to travel to Arklow once the Maggie Bhas been brought there and were anxious to have a Mass said on board the vessel for their son. "They want to see the boat where their son, Glynn, was lost," he said.
"The Cotts' sole purpose has never been to apportion blame; their sole purpose has been to find out why their son had to die so that information gathered about his death will possibly save other lives in the future," Fr O'Callaghan said.
Last night Mr Hegarty confirmed that repairs would be carried out to make the Maggie Bseaworthy. It is expected to leave Dunmore East for Arklow at 9.30am today under tow by a tug.
It will be then examined by marine casualty investigators.
