The Wexford fishing tragedy raises questions about the capabilities and techniques of the marine rescue services, writes Lorna Siggins, Marine Correspondent.
'There was always a hope, but at least there is some closure now." The words of Charlie Colfer, brother of missing Co Wexford skipper Pat Colfer, after the eight-metre lobster boat Rising Sun was raised last week from the 52-metre depths off the Saltee Islands.
For 10 weeks, since the boat capsized and sank with three crew on board on November 29th, 2005, a group of Wexford families have been living a nightmare, which has also had a profound impact on the marine rescue agencies involved.
Two days after the loss of Colfer and his crewmate Jimmy Meyler there was a third fatality when New Ross engineer Billy O'Connor - an experienced diver and former vice-president of Comhairle Fo-Thuinn (CFT), the Irish Underwater Council - got into difficulty some eight metres from the surface when returning from an unauthorised search of the wreck.
CFT sports diving officials and friends of O'Connor were quick to defend the diver's decision to respond to an appeal from those close to Pat Colfer, and still maintain that if the Naval Service had responded sooner "Billy O'Connor might still be alive".
This criticism is reflected in the latest issue of Subsea, the CFT quarterly, which referred to a "serious question" over the Naval Service's diving capability. While the service "talked of the incredible depth of 50 metres and fierce currents" the Subsea article said "the real problem seems to be the insistence on using [ a] surface demand system with long hoses to the support ship". This, it pointed out, is a type of diving technology which dates to 1840. The use of umbilical cables feeding air from the surface restricts mobility, it said, whereas British navy diving teams are trained to use mixed gases in such depths.
THE NAVAL SERVICE commander of fleet operations, Cdr Eugene Ryan, told The Irish Times last week he understood the frustration of the bereaved families, and extended his sympathies to them. That said, the technology used by the Naval Service was "tried and tested" and fully compliant with health and safety requirements.
He said while the concept of surface demand diving dates to the 19th century, Naval Service equipment was up to date and renewed constantly.
There was no lack of resources, the divers have trained with the British military and "surface demand is adequate for what we do".
Cdr Ryan said in the hours immediately after the sinking, the Naval Service "pulled out all the stops" in the search effort as it had a ship in Dunmore East, Co Waterford, at the time. When the task was switched to "search and recovery", the priority was to find the wreck and the missing men, and to ensure all rescue personnel returned alive.
The team of 18, involving 15 divers and three support, were all serving personnel. There was complete co-operation with the Irish Lights crew on the Granuaile, and divers had to undergo recompression tests before being deployed, he said.
Some initial damage to the cable attached to the team's underwater camera, or remotely operated vehicle (ROV), delayed work by only six hours, according to Cdr Ryan, who said he was "aware" of a report that British navy divers were brought in to assist, but this was without foundation.
He emphasised that conditions for the divers were very difficult given the number of pots lying around the hull, but a complete survey took place and a report was filed to the Marine Casualty Investigation Board (MCIB) which was happy with the Naval Service input.
NAVY DIVERS FOUND no sign of Colfer's body, but located O'Connor's body 20m from the wreck, and it was picked up by the ROV. "Billy O'Connor's death was a tragedy, as was that of the two fishermen. We knew Billy to be a very professional man," Cdr Ryan said.
Subsea suggested safety regulations and the Irish Coast Guard's fear of litigation are at the root of the problem, which has caused a serious rift between State rescue services and voluntary sports divers.
Subsea referred to the controversial decision, several years ago to contract out the air/sea rescue work undertaken by the Air Corps to a private operator "when the Army failed to maintain suitable aircraft", and said "now is the time to look at this approach to Naval Service diving".
Cdr Ryan said the Irish Coast Guard and Naval Service have a very close working relationship. Irish Coast Guard director Capt Liam Kirwan stresses that the Naval Service was acting as an aid to the civil authority - and that final responsibility for all decisions relating to the Rising Sun search lay with it.
The Irish Coast Guard intends to meet CFT shortly on establishing a working relationship.