THE collision over a week ago involving a Spanish fishing vessel, the Sea Horse, and a Castletownbere trawler, the Exodus, whose skipper, Mr Danny "Boy" O'Driscoll (42), died in the incident, may have been accidental, according to sources close to the Department of the Marine investigation.
The initial inquiry into the sinking of the Exodus, The Irish Times has learned, is understood to have determined that both vessels were running on parallel lines, 20 miles south-west of Castletownbere, when the collision occurred. The Exodus, fishing for whitefish, had made its fourth trawl of the day. The Sea Horse, which claims to have been crab-fishing, had laid its pots and had no gear out. It is understood that the Spanish vessel was steaming on autopilot at the time, 1.20 p.m. on March 9th.
According to sources, evidence of an electrical malfunction may show that the autopilot developed a fault, causing the Sea Horse to veer to port, practically cutting through the Exodus and causing it to sink within minutes.
Radio operators in west Cork who monitored the sinking as it happened have said that the Spanish crew did all it could to save the three-man crew old the Exodus after the impact.
Over the past number of years, numerous ramming incidents involving Spanish and Irish vessels using different types of fishing gear on the same grounds have been logged. The Irish South and West Fishermen's Organisation has called repeatedly for tougher action against the aggressive behaviour of the foreign vessels, and fishermen in west Cork, where many of the incidents have occurred, have demanded protection from the authorities.
Mr O'Driscoll was in the wheel-house of the Exodus giving his position when the trawler went down. He managed to rouse his two crew members, Mr Redmond Kelly and Mr Pat Joe O'Driscoll who were able to launch a life raft. They were later transferred to a life raft launched by the Sea Horse.
Last Saturday, the skipper of the Sea Horse, Mr Francesco Cruces Iglesias, in his 40s, of La Coruna, Spain, was served with three summonses under the Merchant Shipping Act's collision regulations over the incident.
Mr Iglesias is required to appear in court in west Cork on April 11th to answer charges that the vessel failed to keep a proper lookout, that it was overtaking without due caution towards another and that it failed to meet its obligations when in the vicinity of a vessel that was engaged in fishing at the time.
Over the weekend, four members of the Sea Horse crew were questioned by gardai in Bantry under the Offences Against the State Act. A further three crew members were questioned under the Criminal Justice Act. The seven men were later released without charge.
At Bantry District Court yesterday 48-hour detention orders were granted in respect of log book offences off the south-west coast over the weekend, involving three UK-registered Spanish fishing vessels. The skippers of the vessels will appear tomorrow at Clonakilty District Court.
The Spanish flag of convenience craft were detained by the Naval Service patrol ship LE Ciara about 60 miles west of Bantry within hours of an investigation into an alleged ramming incident in Irish territorial waters.
A potential confrontation between Spanish and British vessels off the south-east coast was defused over the weekend when the LE Ciara was dispatched to fishing grounds some 50 miles south of the Fastnet on Friday night. A boarding party took statements from the British-registered gillnetter Holly Jane after it had reported that its bow had been rammed by an unidentified Spanish trawler at lunchtime on Friday.
Several Spanish vessels were boarded, bunt none fitted the description given by the Holly Jane.
The three detained - named the Spinning Dale, Sasoeta and Ayr Queen - took some 14 hours to haul their gear, as they were longlining. The detentions bring to 10 the number of arrests by the Naval Service to date this year.
Once again, they focus attention on the flag of convenience issue, and the apparent lack of control over the activities of such vessels in EU waters.
On Saturday, the body of a west Cork lobster fisherman, Mr Patrick O'Sullivan, single and in his late 40s from Long Island, was recovered from the sea at Roaring Water Bay. He had been fishing alone and was reported missing when he failed to return.