Fishing crew trawls up WWII mine from seabed

THE crew of a trawler got an unwelcome catch yesterday when they scooped up an unstable World War II German mine, which was capable of sinking a large ship.

The Sea Venture was fishing five nautical miles south-east of Courtmacsherry when its crew trawled up a mine from the sea bed. The skipper immediately radioed Valentia Coastguard Station to inform them of the incident and the Coastguard notified the Irish Naval Service.

Navy spokesman Lieutenant Commander Terry Ward said that the LÉ Eithne was dispatched to the scene and pulled alongside the trawler.