Four Spanish fishermen lost their lives and two others were still missing last night after their 120-foot trawler Pescalanza was battered by hurricane winds and mountainous seas, 80 miles southwest of Mizen Head yesterday. Six of the 12-man crew were picked up by another trawler fishing in the vicinity.
Last night the six survivors and the bodies of the four fishermen who died were being taken back to the port of Vigo in north-western Spain on board the French-registered trawler, Ategorreta, which, like the British-registered Pescalanza, was also fishing out of Vigo.
The two trawlers, together with a third Spanish-manned vessel, the Meaban, were in the area noted for its rich whitefish grounds at this time of year. One theory is that the Pescalanza was hit by a freak wave when it had a huge catch on board and that it sank very quickly. However, the fact that five of the surviving crew members managed to launch a liferaft suggests that even in the conditions there was time to be alert to the danger. The sixth survivor was in the sea when he was picked up by the Ategorreta, which also recovered the bodies.
The accident occurred shortly before 1 p.m. yesterday. When the trawler went down, there were huge seas running with waves of more than 20 feet high and winds gusting at up to force 10. Once the neighbouring trawlers raised the alarm, a massive air-sea rescue operation swung into action. It involved the LE Aisling, which was later stood down, two aircraft from the Irish emergency rescue services, including a helicopter from Shannon and a fixed-wing spotter aircraft which was diverted from the Donegal search for the Irish fishermen missing since Sunday. An RAF Nimrod from Kinloss in Scotland also joined the search and was replaced later by another Nimrod from Culdrose base in Cornwall. Other trawlers in the area as well as merchant shipping gave assistance in an attempt to locate the two missing fishermen.
As that search was going on, hopes were fading of finding Mr Patrick Courcey (25), the fisherman who fell overboard while on his way between Bantry and Whiddy Island at the weekend.
Mr Derry O'Donovan, the agent for Spanish fishermen in Castletownbere, Co Cork - the port used predominantly by them - said last night he had been in touch by radio with the Ategorreta following the rescue of the survivors and the recovery of the bodies. "I asked them how it happened. They just said that conditions were appalling and the Pescalanza may have taken a freak wave. It's hard to tell at this stage what happened exactly. But they did tell me that the way the weather was at the time, it was extremely difficult to pick up the five on the liferaft as well as the sixth man from the sea," he said.
The rescue operation was co-ordinated jointly by Valentia Radio in Kerry and Falmouth Radio in the UK. Even as darkness gathered, the Nimrod aircraft continued to sweep the area where the disaster occurred, but after light faded the decision had already been taken to discontinue the search for the two men until this morning.
Fishermen in Castletownbere said the crew of the Pescalanza were not well known in the town. In recent years, there has been tension between Irish and Spanish fishermen because of allegations that the smaller west Cork fleet was being intimidated by the larger Spanish trawlers.
Gale force winds on the northern and southern coasts are set to decrease slightly today. According to Met Eireann the winds, which touched storm force off the south coast yesterday, will stay at gale force but are expected to ease.
"The winds will be coming from a northerly direction. It will be very cold," said weather forecaster Mr Jerry Scully.
An area of low pressure was crossing the country yesterday and on its south-west and northern "flanks" the winds were extremely strong. Ships off the southern coast were reporting winds of up to 50 knots yesterday, he said. "The low has now drifted out to the Irish Sea. The winds are set to become more uniform. They will settle into a northerly direction overnight."
Last night Stena Line, Irish Ferries and Swansea Cork Ferries said that all their sailings were going ahead as scheduled.