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Hopes fade for Greencastle
fisherman
09.10.09
by Linda McGrory
HOPES were fading last night for a young Co Donegal
fisherman who fell overboard from a crabbing vessel
near the Orkney Islands in Scotland.
The man, named locally as 21-year old Mark Duffy,
Upper Drumaweir, Greencastle, fell overboard at
4.10am while fishing on the crabbing vessel, 'Noronya',
12 miles off the coast of Orkney in the Brough of
Birsay. He was one of five crew on board the
year-old vessel. An air and sea search was launched
after the 18.5 metre boat sent out a May Day. The 'Noronya'
and its crew remained patrolling the scene yesterday
as part of the search that included a Shetland
Coastguard helicopter and two lifeboats, trawlers
and a Royal Navy minesweeper, HMS Bangor. |
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Pete McBride who runs a
crab fishing business in Downings, Co Donegal, said
Mr Duffy worked for him for about a year in 2007. He
said there was a culture of young Donegal crewmen
moving around Ireland, Scotland and parts of Europe
for crab fishing work. |
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"Mark worked on one of our boats, 'Amy Jane', for
about a year. The Greencastle
lads are hard workers, the best of young fellas,"
said Mr McBride. He said another of the crew members
was from Cranford, Co Donegal while he believed the
skipper was also from the Greencastle area.
"Crab fishing is hard work and very physical. It
wouldn't be unusual for crab fishermen to fish all
night and rest during the day, especially if the
weather isn't good during the day." Mr McBride said
the Donegal crab-fishing community were saddened
when they heard about the tragedy. "It's terrible
news, especially since Mark would have worked on
most of the (crab) boats here and a lot of them in
Scotland."
Meanwhile, Shetland Coastguard watch officer, Errol
Smith, said the search was under constant review.
"We have a helicopter covering the area and two
lifeboats from Stromness and Kirkwell. We will keep
the search under review," he said. The search
continued until night fall last night and is
expected to resume at first light today.
It is understood Mr Duffy was wearing yellow
oilskins at the time of his disappearance but was
not wearing a lifejacket. His crew-mates threw a
life-ring and smoke marker near the spot where he
fell into the sea. Mr Smith said the water
temperature was estimated at around 12 degrees. The
steel-hulled 'Noronya' was launched in August 2008
and is registered in Kirkwell, Orkney. Its owner
Ronnie Norquoy last night said Mr Duffy had been
working for him for about a month but he declined to
comment further on the incident. |
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