FATIGUE is now a major factor for the families and friends of the five lost fishermen.

MARION COLLINS — one of the army of local volunteers who doled out soup and sandwiches to search teams — knows more than most the perils involved for those trying to eke out a living from the sea.

The father of a young man feared drowned on a trawler with four experienced fishermen believes his son’s body is on board.

Navy and Garda dive teams are assessing conditions in Union Hall harbour in West Cork, ahead of making a dive on the wreck of the Tit Bonhomme.

Hopes were fading tonight for the safe return of five men missing after a trawler sank off the west Cork coast.

Local reports suggest one of those missing from the trawler that went aground off the Cork coast was a young student from west Cork.

THREE fisherman from West Cork had to be rescued from a life raft after their trawler sank in minutes off Glandore Harbour.