The search has been called off for two crewmen missing from an Irish-registered fishing vessel that sank on its way to Castletownbere, Co Cork, 170 miles south-west of the Scilly Isles early yesterday.
Seven of the 10 crewmen on board the Dinish were rescued. An eighth man was recovered from the water but did not survive, according to Falmouth Coast Guard, which co-ordinated a highly hazardous rescue operation with the assistance of cargo ships in the area.
The two missing men are the vessel's Spanish chief engineer, and a crewman from Guinea-Bissau. The third crewman's body was flown to Cork University Hospital yesterday .
Among the survivors was the captain, Juan Comedeiro (48), who has operated out of Castletownbere, Co Cork, for several years. The vessel was returning to Castletownbere from Vigo - where it had undergone extensive refurbishment - when it began to take water. South-westerly winds were force five to six, with a swell of up to four metres. Capt Comedeiro was wearing a life-jacket and immersion suit and was spotted clinging to wreckage and nets from the Dinish during the search, which relied on information relayed from the vessel's emergency position-indicating radio beacon (EPIRB) after the vessel sank.
The 43-year-old Spanish-built vessel issued an alert on Wednesday night that was picked up by Falmouth Coast Guard. A Royal Navy helicopter from Culdrose and RAF helicopter from Chivenor, Devon, were scrambled, along with a Nimrod surveillance aircraft from Kinloss, Scotland.
The distance was at the limit of fuelling capabilities, and refuelling was organised at St Mary's on the Scilly Isles in the early hours of yesterday. An oil freighter, the Stena Contest, and a motor tanker, the Jag Pahel, were within 14 miles of the area and the Stena Contest spotted two life-rafts in the water.
The Stena Contest rescued six crew from one of the life-rafts, but the second was empty. The six survivors were Spanish-speaking, with no English, and a satellite phone link with the Spanish authorities was used to ascertain what had happened and how many were missing.
Falmouth Coast Guard requested that the location beacon EPIRB be left in the water to facilitate the further search. When the skipper was recovered, he was taken on board a ship bound for New York. The six other crew are on the Stena Contest, said to be bound for Germany.
The Dinish was one of a fleet of Irish-registered vessels owned by the Spanish-Irish company Eiranova Fisheries in Castletownbere.
Last year, it was one of several remaining Eiranova boats purchased by Castletown Fisheries Ltd, a company involving Spanish and Irish interests.