RELATIVES of the fishermen lost in the Dunmore East fishing vessel Jenalisa were said to be "very angry" this week at the latest setback in attempts to salvage the wreck off the Waterford coast.
"We don't know who to believe, where to turn to now," a Fianna Fail councillor and uncle of one of the victims, Mr Geoff Power, told The Irish Times. "Anxiety has now turned to anger," Mr Power said, commenting on the Department of the Marine's announcement on Tuesday night that a new contract has been issued for the recovery of the 40ft vessel.
Work was to have begun on the recovery of the Jenalisa last weekend, but "technical difficulties" delayed arrival of the equipment, and the contract with a Co Louth company, North East Diving Services, has now been terminated.
A new contract was issued to Celtic Diving Ltd of Cobh Co Cork this week. It is expected that the operation will begin this weekend.
The gill netter sank over three weeks ago with the loss of three lives, and two of the three bodies are still missing. On Tuesday the Minister for the Marine, Mr Barrett, said that he fully appreciated the distress caused to the families by the continuing lack of progress, and he acknowledged that other efforts, such as use of local fishing vessels, could have led to an earlier recovery.
However, the official investigation required that the vessel be raised with as little disturbance as possible, he said.
Mr Power said yesterday that communication with the Department of the Marine was still very poor. "If they were looking for a tonne of cannabis, that boat would have been raised weeks ago. It is now 24 days since the accident happened, and there is some possibility that the two bodies may be on board. Perhaps we are clutching at straws, but it is all we have got."
Earlier this week the Department of the Marine said that the priority from the outset had been the search. The vessel was located on February 8th, four days after the sinking, and an initial time lag from February 8th to 16th, when the order for recovery was issued, was to allow Naval Service divers to examine the vessel.
In Co Donegal relatives and friends of the six fishermen lost in the Carrickatine accident last November have expressed appreciation for the efforts of the Naval Service in the search for the vessel. They have apologised for omitting the service from a notice of appreciation published earlier this week.
"The Naval Service contributed a huge effort towards finding the missing trawler," the Foyle Fishermen's Co op said in a statement on behalf of the Greencastle community. "We have the highest regard for the service and its professionalism, and we wish to place our debt of gratitude on record."
