No sign of Honeydew II’s whereabouts

REPORTS that the missing Honeydew II had been located off the south-east coast at Ardmore were refuted yesterday and as light faded last night there was still no firm indication as to the stricken Kinsale vessel’s whereabouts.

A submerged mass was found by trawlers on Sunday but neither the trawlers, lifeboats nor the Navy were able to establish whether it was the missing vessel.

John O’Mahony, skipper of one of the trawlers, the Sean Mair II, said the trawlers used a long “creeper” device to see if they could catch anything from the sunken mass which could indicate it was the boat. However, the creeper proved to be too flexible.

Meanwhile, navy divers are today hoping to descend to the remains of the Pere Charles which sank with the loss of five lives on the same day as the Honeydew II.

The divers arrived in Dunmore East on the Grannuaile last night after travelling from the naval base at Haulbowline. The weather conditions today and tomorrow are expected to be challenging with wind speeds expected to reach Force 6-7 and the water conditions forecast to be moderate to rough.

However, Navy spokesman, Lieutenant Commander Terry Ward, said they were hopeful there would be a search today. He said the divers would be equipped with special umbilical-like air hoses attached to their helmets which allow them to swim unencumbered by the weight of air tanks. They also have cameras and microphones which enable them to communicate with the dive platform.

The navy has also brought a remote operated vehicle to Dunmore East to aid the divers. It is hoped that some of the missing crewmen might still be on the vessel.

Coastguard units carried out a low water coastline search from Curraghcloe to Ardmore yesterday. They were accompanied by almost 50 volunteers.

The coastguard helicopter searched around Tusca Rock, the Salties and Mine Head while five fishing vessels searched the area around Mine Head.

However, last night there was nothing new to report.