An air and sea search off the County Down coast for three generations of the same family who left in a small fishing boat early yesterday morning is to resume tomorrow morning. The Coastguard says that the vessel's disappearance has been upgraded from an emergency to a Mayday situation.
A coastguard spokesman said that the signs are not good for finding the grandfather, father and son, all called Michael Greene. He said that they believed there was "a grave and imminent danger".
They left the fishing port of Kilkeel early yesterday morning to go fishing for prawns at the mouth of Carlingford Lough. Conditions were very calm at the time. The ten-year-old boy was on his half-term break, leaving him free to go on the trip.
Concern grew when there was no communication from the vessel yesterday evening. A huge search operation involving fishermen and rescue services from Britain and the Republic is underway.
Their 10-metre vessel, the Tullaghmurray Lass, was built in 1987. According to industry sources, it was due to be decommissioned at the end of the month. There are unconfirmed reports that an oil slick has been located.
