Barge called in to help divers find bodies of 2 missing men
THE bodies of two fishermen lost when their boat capsized last month are believed to be in the wheelhouse and hold of the sunken vessel.
Duncan MacDougall, 46, and Przemek Krawczyk, 38, have been missing since the Nancy Glen prawn trawler capsized a mile from their home port of Tarbert, Argyll, on January 18.
Now, a lifting barge from Falmouth in Cornwall has been contracted by the Scottish Government to go to Loch Fyne to help divers search inside the boat, which is stuck in mud 460ft down on the bed of the sea loch.
Elaine Whyte, secretary of the Clyde Fishermen’s Association, said earlier remote control camera surveys of the vessel had not been able to confirm if the men’s bodies are there.
But Whyte said the third crewman – John Miller, 34, of Tarbert, who was rescued by a passing boat when the Nancy Glen capsized – had led them to believe his shipmates are inside.
She said: “It’s quite thick metal so we can’t see inside but we assume one will be in the wheelhouse and the other in the hold area below.”
Whyte said cameras had been able to see the exterior of the boat and the surrounding waters.
She said: “They can see round about the boat and that it is stuck in mud. Everything outside is fine. There hasn’t been much debris anywhere else. There is no sign of anything else and the boat is intact.”
Remote-operated vehicles will be used to cut fishing gear and wires away from the boat before it is lifted to a higher point of the loch so divers can search inside.
Whyte said the lifting work may begin next week but there is no definite start time.
She added: “The lifting barge is coming next week. It is weather dependent and when it does happen, it’s going to take 10 days to two weeks. It’s quite stuck in the mud, so it’s quite a technical business.”
Requests have come from film crews wanting to capture footage of the recovery operation.
However, Whyte said the aim was not to bring the Nancy Glen to the surface but to save any unnecessary distress to the men’s families.
A maritime safety spokesman for the Department of Transport said: “Over the next few days, they will be examining whether the vessel can be lifted from its position to facilitate recovery and how this may be achieved in the safest possible manner.
“We are staying ready to provide additional expertise and support should this be required.”
The Scottish Government’s promise to fund the recovery bid means that donations which have flooded in to a JustGiving crowdfunding appeal will go directly to help the families of the lost fishermen, who are both fathers of two.
The appeal has now raised more than £240,000.