LAST UPDATE | 26 Sep 2023

[Note: There have been further developments connected to this story this evening - for latest updates click here.]

THE NAVAL SERVICE and gardaí are concerned that a vessel that ran aground on the Wexford coast may break apart as Storm Agnes arrives tomorrow. 

Authorities have made several attempts to board the trawler to determine whether drugs are on board. So far those efforts have been hampered by bad weather. 

It’s hoped the boarding may be possible in daylight hours today, before stormy conditions sweep the Irish Sea tomorrow morning. 

The vessel, which is understood to have been bought by two men from an owner on the south west coast in recent weeks, became beached on a sandbank some five nautical miles off Curracloe Beach in high seas in the early hours of yesterday morning. 

Two people on board were rescued by Coast Guard helicopter. Sources have said that the two men have been detained for questioning.

The Journal reported yesterday evening that the vessel was under Irish naval surveillance following suspicions by gardaí and international agencies about its intentions.

As the situation developed the naval service’s LÉ William Butler Yeats was close by conducting surveillance and was dispatched closer to the scene. 

The two men were winched off the vessel by helicopter and then onto the naval vessel before being detained for questioning by gardaí.  

Since the trawler ran aground the Naval Service and the Coast Guard have made several attempts to get on board the vessel. Such is the sea state in the area that there are substantial concerns for the safety of the search team. They are also concerned that the vessel may break apart or become otherwise damaged.

Garda detectives from the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau (GNDOCB) are involved in the operation, while the Defence Forces has also been drawing on the expertise of a specialist military boarding team.

Sources have said that the investigation is of a suspicious boat at present but that it is part of a probe into the activities of an organised crime group with connections to Ireland and the UK and possibly the European continent.  

As previous revealed by The Journal in an interview with MAOC-N, a Portuguese based international intelligence agency working with Irish authorities in maritime drugs interdiction, trawlers have begun to be used by organised crime to traffic drug supplies. 

Sources have said there are substantial concerns now among the security services that the vessel may break apart amid the impending storm. 

A Status Orange marine warning was issued for the Irish Sea late last night. It kicks in tomorrow, with seafarers warned of winds reaching up to Storm Force 10. The search team is hoping a forecasted break in the weather late this afternoon may allow them to board. 

“With the storm coming the risk here is that we may never know for certain what is on that boat, that is the problem, we are dealing with a suspicious vessel at present. Beyond that it is total speculation,” a security source explained. 

A second source, who is familiar with the maritime side of the operation, said that efforts continued all yesterday and last night to come up a way to board the vessel. 

“The search team didn’t get on board last night despite multiple efforts – it is just too dangerous. 

“The vessel is being hit by waves and it is moving it around – there are substantial concerns that if one of the team gets washed off they will be crushed by the boat. 

“There are some talks that there’ll be an effort to refloat her at high tide this evening but if they don’t get her off before the storm there’s a risk she will suffer catastrophic damage because the forecast is brutal.

“The only good bit is that she is a steel hulled vessel, she’d be sturdy enough, but she will suffer damage in high seas. She’ll be hit with waves and then impacted onto the sandbank,” a source explained.

It is understood the Irish Air Corps redeployed its air ambulance based in Athlone along with other aircraft to participate in the boarding attempts. The naval service also employed Rigid Hulled Inflatable Boats to bring search teams close to the vessel.

A spokesperson for the Irish Coast Guard confirmed the winching operation this morning but referred any queries about the nature of the operation to An Garda Síochána.

“At approximately 22:10 on Sunday evening, the Irish Coast Guard received a distress call from a vessel in difficulty off the coast of Co. Wexford. Waterford based Coast Guard helicopter R117, and Rosslare RNLI were tasked to the scene where a fishing vessel was aground on a sandbank off the coast of Blackwater, Co. Wexford.

“After attempts to tow the vessel were unsuccessful, the casualties were successfully winched from the vessel. Both R117 and the Rosslare RNLI were subsequently stood down,” the spokesperson said. 

Gardaí and other state agencies are not officially commenting, but it’s expected official statements will be issued once the current phase of the operation is resolved. 

With additional reporting from Mairead Maguire.