A FISHING trawler which ran aground and subsequently sank off Ardglass harbour has been raised from the seabed and taken to a Scottish port for inspection.
Specialist lifting gear was used to raise the vessel on Monday morning, five weeks after it ran aground on rocks near the entrance to the harbour.
The carefully planned lifting operation got underway at 6am on Monday. The process involved engineers fitting two large strops underneath the Dillon Owen before it was hoisted clear of the water by a crane in less than two hours.
Weighing 272 tonnes, nearly 24 metres long and eight metres wide, the trawler was winched on to a barge before being taken away.
Kevin Quigley, chief executive of the Northern Ireland Fishery Harbour Authority, said an investigation into the sinking would now be carried out by the Irish maritime organisation, the Marine Casualty Investigation Board.
He added: “This was a very impressive operation to raise the Dillon Owen and it seemed to carried out very efficiently and safely.
“There was no local pollution problems from the sinking of the boat.”
The trawler got into difficulty on October 23 as it headed towards
Ardglass harbour, with a rescue operation mounted by Newcastle and Portaferry RNLI volunteer crews who responded to a Mayday call in the early hours.
The local crews worked alongside Irish Coastguard’s Rescue 116 helicopter after the call for help was made at 5.15am.
The boat got into difficulty as it tried to dock to offload its catch in poor weather.
It was listing badly and had started to take on water when the lifeboats arrived, helping the five crew members to safety with the help of the coastguard.
While the vessel did not sink the day after it ran aground, it subsequently succumbed to the water a
few days later due to further bad weather.
The Cork-registered vessel is believed to have been badly damaged with its catch of mackerel lost, with most of it enjoyed by gulls and other sea birds.
Since the incident, a massive barge twice visited Ardglass harbour over recent weeks to carry out the necessary preparation to raise the boat, but bad weather prevented an earlier attempt to raise it.
The barge arrived back last Friday to carry out further work ahead of a window of calm weather to allow the trawler to be raised.
Councillor Dermot Curran said that the earlier arrival of the barge made for interesting viewing for Ardglass people.
“When the barge was lit up at night, it was a quite a spectacle to see it twinkling in the harbour. It’s something I’ve never seen before,” said the councillor whose home overlooks the harbour.
“I am glad that the boat has finally been lifted and taken away for everyone’s benefit and safety.”