Fishing boat owner seeking answers

Fishing boat owner seeking answers

22 April 2015

THE owner of the Ardglass trawler is demanding to know who was responsible for last week’s incident.

Simon Wills said if the nets had been snagged while the trawler was fishing at night or during bad weather, the crew would almost certainly have perished.

“This is a very serious issue and whoever was responsible must come forward and admit liability,” he said while overseeing repair work to the badly damaged vessel moored in the village harbour.

“We are so restricted where we can fish due to European restrictions and the fact we are not allowed into Isle of Man waters unless we pay an annual fee. That means we have a restricted corridor to operate in and now discover it’s populated with submarines.”

Mr Wills said while it will take time to repair his vessel so the crew can put to sea again to earn a wage, he is thankful they did not lose their lives last Wednesday.

He declared: “I am so thankful Paul and the crew escaped from this terrifying incident with their lives. We all have our suspicions about who was responsible but no one is prepared to admit liability.

“This was a major incident and it cannot be swept under the carpet. Men could have died out there while going about their jobs to earn a living for their families. If a smaller vessel had its net caught in a sub the crew would have died. The fact my guys were on a large boat helped save their lives. There is no doubt about that.”

Mr Wills said he is thankful his skipper had the experience to deal with the issue and wants the Marine Accident Investigation Branch to launch an inquiry into the incident.

He added: “We were so close to losing four lives last week. This was an extremely serious issue and one which has reverberated across the Co. Down fishing fleet. Guys going out to sea will be very wary for a while when they their nets.

“We have the evidence about what happened last week and want a full and thorough investigation. We want whoever was responsible to hold their hands up and admit their liability. We all suspect a submarine is responsible and the skipper of the vessel certainly has a lot to answer for.”