Skipper set to attend Wesminster to hear why submarine dragged boat

Skipper set to attend Wesminster to hear why submarine dragged boat

16 September 2015

THE skipper of an Ardglass trawler almost submerged by a submarine in a terrifying incident in the Irish Sea last April will be in the House of Commons today.

Paul Murphy will be in Westminster for an adjournment debate where he will be joined by boat owner Tom Wills and Dick James, the chief executive of the Northern Ireland Fish Producers’ Organisation.

South Down MP Margaret Ritchie and her Strangford counterpart Jim Shannon will be speaking on the incident involving the Ardglass-based Karen which the Royal Navy initially denied it was involved in.

The trawler was fishing near the Isle of Man when it was dragged violently backwards at speed after snagging its nets, with the only the quick-thinking actions of Mr Murphy saving the lives of the crew.

While ministry officials initially claimed there were no submarines within 150 miles of the incident  they finally admitted last week that a Royal Navy vessel was involved. The Navy confirmed after “reviewing” information available to it about the incident, that one of its submarines was responsible and that the trawler had not been “correctly identified.”

In a letter to the trawler’s skipper, Rear Admiral M J Parr, the Royal Navy’s Commander of Operations, said he was sorry the Ardglass crew had to go through such an “alarming experience” and apologised for both what happened and the delay in being able to recognise the Navy’s responsibility for the damage caused.

Ahead of today’s debate, Miss Ritchie confirmed she has been told the 

Navy knew it was involved in the incident in the Irish Sea in early August but did not admit responsibility until some five weeks later, confirming Defence Minister Penny Mordaunt has agreed to meet her to discuss the issue.

“I will take the opportunity to raise several matters with her on behalf of my constituents and the fishing industry that require immediate clarification including the contents of the Marine Accident Investigation Board report and the reasons the Karen’s nets were snagged,” said the MP.

“I am still not satisfied the Royal Navy did not know it had snagged the fishing nets of the Karen on April 15. The submarine responsible was operating in rich fishing grounds in the North Channel where other fishing vessels were also working.”

The MP said she hopes that as a result of the meeting with Minister Mordaunt that it will be possible to shed some light on several key issues to ensure “full and adequate compensation” is paid to the owner and skipper of the Karen and that such incidents involving MoD submarines do not happen or interfere with fishing in the North Channel and Irish Sea.

Mr James revealed he has had briefings with both MPs ahead of the debate and said the key issue for him is the safety of the local fishing fleet.

“The way the Navy has behaved recently has been deplorable and leaves us with no confidence about the safety of both boats and submarines,” he declared. “Compensation is obviously on the agenda but that’s not the main feature as far as I am concerned. It is health and safety.”

Mr James said trawler skippers need to know that when they put to sea they are safe and not in danger of potentially being dragged under the water by a submarine.

He added: “It’s my understanding the submarine involved in the Karen incident was an A Class hunter killer which carries cruise missiles and torpedoes. The Navy says this submarine can detect another ship 3,000 miles away which makes you wonder why it couldn’t 

detect the Karen which was in close proximity to it.”