A contract for raising the fishing boat which down went off the coast of Co Wexford late last year resulting in the death of three men has been awarded to a Rosslare-based company which will begin preparatory work on salvaging the vessel tomorrow.
The Rising Sunsunk on November 29 thoff the Saltee Islands with the loss of two lives. A third man, local diver, Billy O'Connor, died two days after the sinking as he attempted to locate the body of the vessel's skipper Pat Colfer.
Mr Colfer's body was not recovered and his family had urged the Coast Guard to raise the 26ft lobster boat so a search can be made.
Two crewmen were recovered after the sinking but one of them, Ian Tierney, died later in hospital.
The recovery contract has been awarded to Tusker Rock Marine which has been in operation for over 20 years and has worked across Europe in deep-water salvage.
Its managing director David Kinsella said he was "conscious of the need" for Mr Colfer's family to recover the body and was hopeful it may be found still aboard the boat.
He said work would begin tomorrow marking out the site and sending a remotely operated vehicle onto the seabed to locate the Rising Sun.
"We'll need three or four days' good weather back to back and if we get that then we'd be confident we'll get it up before the end of the week," Mr Kinsella said.
At least 12 people are likely to be used in the operation eight of whom will be divers, Mr Kinsella added.
A report by the Naval Service which accompanied the tender document said the vessel was in about 52 metres of water.