No decision on charges over Pisces tragedy

THE State has still to decide if the owner of a vessel which sank a year ago, claiming five lives, will be prosecuted — nine months after gardaí submitted an extensive file on the tragedy.

The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has yet to decide if charges will be brought in the wake of the sinking of the Pisces off the Wexford coast on July 28, 2002. A separate report commissioned by the Department of the Marine showed the vessel was overloaded, unsafe and not sea worthy.

Yesterday, investigating superintendent Tom Saunderson of New Ross garda station said: “The DPP still has the file. He’s had it for a number of months now. We’ve heard nothing so far. It is a significant matter though and it is not unusual for a decision to take such a length of time, considering the tragedy involved.”

A subsequent report by the Marine Casualty Investigation Board found that the vessel was overcrowded, unsafe and was not sea-worthy.

The report also showed the Pisces did not have a passenger licence and would not have been granted one because of its poor condition, poor stability and the lack of life-saving and fire-fighting equipment on board.

Relatives of those who perished declined to comment on the matter.