Seven fishermen missing on stormy Irish Sea, 2 safe
12 Jan 2007 00:32:29 GMT Source: Reuters
(Adds second empty life raft found, search suspended) By Paul Hoskins and Chris Baldwin DUBLIN, Jan 11 (Reuters) - A helicopter winched two Lithuanian fishermen to safety on Thursday after two Irish trawlers sank in rough seas off southeast Ireland, but hopes were fading for seven other crew members. "The coast guard have located a second life raft tonight, unfortunately it was empty," Irish Coast Guard spokeswoman Veronica Scanlan said. Two crew members of the 24-metre timber fishing vessel The Honeydew 2, which operated out of Kinsale, were earlier hoisted from a life raft where they had spent the last 20 hours. They were airlifted to a nearby hospital and coast guard staff at the scene described both men as being "in relatively good condition" given the circumstances. A helicopter and naval vessel, along with local life boats and trawlers, suspended the search for the Honeydew's remaining crew members -- one Irish and one Lithuanian -- at about 11.45 p.m. (2345 GMT) and were expected to resume it at about 8 a.m. (0800 GMT) on Friday, Scanlan said. Search and rescue services had already called off for the night another nearby hunt for the crew of the Pere Charles which sent a distress signal just after 6 p.m. (1800 GMT) on Wednesday before sinking about 2.5 miles (4 km) off the port of Rosslare. The boat has a crew of four Irish citizens and one Eastern European, also believed to be from Lithuania, but hopes the men would be found alive receded after another empty life raft washed up on the shore earlier in the day. "The search will continue at first light but as time moves on we're not hopeful of rescuing the crewmen," Scanlan said. Both the British and Irish weather centres issued gale warnings for all coastal regions on Thursday as winds on land gusted at up to 80 miles per hour (130 km per hour). In Ireland, the severe weather led to flight cancellations, kept ferries in harbour and disrupted electricity supplies. Ireland's meteorological office has a gale warning in effect until 1800 GMT on Friday. Winds are expected to decrease thereafter before picking up again later on Saturday.
