Survivor slept for between 6 and 8 hours on trawler

The sole survivor of the Tit Bonhomme said he had slept for up to eight hours on the trawler’s fishing expedition in January last year, in a fresh statement that challenges the findings of the only official report conducted into the tragedy.

The boat’s skipper, Michael Hayes, 51, from Helvick in Co Waterford, Kevin Kershaw, 21, from Clonakilty, West Cork, and Egyptians Attaia Shaban, 26, Saied Ali Eldin, 22, and Wael Mohamed, 35, died when the vessel sank in Glandore Harbour after colliding with rocks on Adam Island on Jan 15 last year.

Wael Mohamed’s brother, Abdelbaky Mohamed, 44, was the sole survivor and yesterday, he gave new evidence stating that during the course of the fishing expedition — which left Union Hall on Jan 13 and sank early the following Sunday morning — he had up to eight hours’ sleep in addition to other periods of rest. This challenges the findings of a Marine Casualty Investigation Board report that claimed crew fatigue was a central factor in the boat’s sinking.