Hopes end of finding missing fishermen alive
Even though helicopters, lifeboats and more than 500 civilians searched the waters and a stretch of rocky coastline, there was still no sign of the two men who disappeared when their boat vanished close to Ardglass Harbour.
The skipper of the boat was rescued by an RNLI lifeboat not long after the Greenhill vessel hit rocks and began to sink.
He was taken to hospital with hypothermia.
Parts of the boat were found washed up on the shoreline, before a vessel using sonar equipment identified the likely position of the trawler, Greenhill, deep in water near the harbour.
Police divers were prevented from investigating because of bad weather and gale force winds.
The two missing men, Conor Bogue from Ballynahinch and Donal Gibson from Downpatrick, had been in the water without lifejackets, and coast guards said it would have been impossible for them to survive after three hours in the water.
Brett Cunningham, maritime rescue service area manager, said: “We’ve searched the area thoroughly, and the amount of wreckage indicates we were in the right place.
“Since they didn’t make it to the lifeboat, there is no likelihood of finding them alive.”
Simon Rogers, a lifeboat helmsmen who helped rescue the skipper, said: “I’m very upset to think that fellow seamen are lost at sea.
“I think the fishing boats had come to terms with it. When we went back out this afternoon, there were only three fishing boats and two RNLI lifeboats still searching. It’s very sad. Very sad.”
The families of the missing men were among hundreds of local people who were crowding the harbour area when news came through that the search was ending.
The family of Conor Bogue issued a statement which said: “The family would like to thank everyone involved in the rescue.”
The search and rescue efforts have been replaced by a recovery operation, and an exclusion zone has been placed around the site.
Boats and amateur divers have been asked to stay away.
