A trawler which sank suddenly flooded and went down after being struck by violent seas off the coast of Co Waterford, marine investigators said today.
Two crew members died and two others survived when the Honeydew IIsank in stormy conditions off the south west coast in January 2007.
The tragedy happened within hours of the Pére Charlessinking in neighbouring fishing grounds with the loss of five lives.
The Marine Casualty Investigation Board (MCIB) said it was “extraordinary” there were any survivors from the Honeydew II given the treacherous weather and speed of the incident.
Investigators said either a wave or waves caused sections of the ship’s hull to buckle and catastrophically fail, ultimately causing the ship to sink. “This allowed a large quantity of water to rapidly flood into the deck shelter space,” the report found.
There were four men on board when it went down in about four minutes roughly three miles off Ram Head, Co Waterford, at about 3am on January 11th, 2007.
Skipper Ger Bohan (39), drowned along with Polish deck hand 31-year-old Tomasz Jagla. Two Lithuanian crewmen - Viktor Losev and Vladimir Kostyr - survived.
Sea conditions where described as treacherous and Met Éireann had issued a gale and small craft warning.
The MCIB said a massive amount of water rushed through the vessel tipping the boat over after part of the hull buckled and collapsed. Investigators said it was extremely unlikely that the 22 metre trawler struck something at sea.
The MCIB said Mr Bohan was an experienced skipper and had on two previous occasions contacted the Coast Guard for less dangerous incidents and was familiar with the process. Mr Losev told investigators he saw Mr Bohan with the radio in his hand shouting for help, but the MCIB said this seemed hard to believe.
The MCIB also said the bridge watchkeeper seemed unaware of the position of the ship or that it was drifting into shallower waters before the incident.
The tragedy stunned coastal communities along the south-west coast, already shocked by the loss of the Pére Charlesjust hours before, which sank in just seconds off Co Wexford as the five-man crew prepared to put back into harbour.