More than 150 Naval Service personnel and civilian workers could have potentially come in contact with asbestos as the crisis deepens over the extent of exposure to the life-threatening substance.

"Back her up… back her up… lock her hard… Ah, crap."

A NAVAL officer who claimed he fell down the stairs of a ship because the handrails were wet has settled his civil action outside the High Court in Cork.

The Naval Service appealed to small fishing boat owners today to join the search for the second of two men who drowned after saving a couple off the coast of Cork at the weekend.