Sunken trawler to be examined

The Navy is to carry out a thorough examination of the Maggie B trawler which sank off the south-east coast in March, it emerged tonight.

The family of missing fisherman Glen Cott today took their calls to have the vessel raised from the seabed to Pat ’The Cope’ Gallagher, Minister of State for Transport.

Mr Cott, 30, from Ballycotton, Co Cork, and crewman Jan Sankowski, 45, from Poland, lost their lives when the boat sank around 8km south of Hook Head, Co Wexford. Their bodies have never been found.

A second Polish crew member was rescued from the water.

The skipper’s relatives and girlfriend, who travelled to Dublin for the meeting, have already lobbied local politicians and this week collected more than 9,200 signatures of support.

The petition was handed over to the minister.

They hope raising the vessel will reveal exactly how and why it sank and possibly recover Mr Cott’s remains.

“It’s never too late to find out why and how these two fishermen died so that no others die in similar or unexplained circumstances,” said Mr Cott’s sister Sharon.

“We are asking to have the Maggie B raised from the sea bed so that it can be professionally surveyed with a thorough examination by the Marine Casualty Investigation Board to establish the facts of the boat and determine the cause of the tragedy.

“We have 9,279 names of local people from where I live who have signed our petition in the last week.”

A decision to lift the boat has to be made by the Marine Casualty Investigation Board. If granted the lifting of the boat would have to go out to tender, which could still take a number of weeks.

The Department of Transport confirmed Mr Cott’s family had requested the private meeting.

“The minister assured the Cott family that a full investigation of the incident is being carried out by the Marine Casualty Investigation Board, an an independent statutory body whose remit is to investigate and establish the facts relating to marine casualties and to make recommendations,” said a spokesperson.

“The Cott family have asked for the vessel to be raised in order to establish why it sank. While this is a matter for the Marine Casualty Investigation Board, Minister Gallagher assured the family that their views would be conveyed to the board for their consideration.

“In the interim, Minister Gallagher is requesting that the Naval Services carry out a thorough examination of the Maggie B.”