The search off the Kilkeel Coast for the three members of the one family has been scaled down. The missing people are 54-year-old Michael Greene, his 32-year-old son and his young grandson.
Several local fishing boats, which had been taking part in the operation since first light this morning, have now returned to the harbour and others will continue the search along with two local lifeboats until dusk.
At 11.00am, the rescue mission was called off and hopes of finding the three alive faded. It is now a search for three bodies. A team of police divers has also been involved but has so far been unable to locate any wreckage.
However, some items including a piece of wood with some glass have been recovered and will be examined closely to see if they could have come from the missing vessel, the Tullaghmurray Lass. It left Kilkeel to fish for prawns on Thursday morning and was due to return early on Friday.
The boat had been due to be destroyed next month and the skipper Michael Greene senior was going to begin a new career as a lorry driver. Local fishermen say that he was very experienced and very careful and they believe his vessel may have been hit by a larger boat on the approaches to Warrenpoint.
