THE SEARCH FOR for a 24-year-old lobster fisherman from Cork, named locally as Kodie Healy, whose boat failed to return to port on Wednesday evening, is still ongoing.
The search operation is being coordinated by Valentia Coast Guard in conjunction with An Garda Síochána.
The search has been underway since 8.30pm on Wednesday evening when the Coast Guard was notified that he had not returned from his day’s activities.
The west Cork town of Goleen and members of the wider fishing community have turned out in force to search for Kodie, whose father John is also a fisherman.
The alarm was raised by John when his son Kodie failed to return to port.
LÉ William Butler #Yeats is currently engaged in SAR Ops in Dunmanus Bay. #P63 is operating with @IrishCoastGuard, @RNLI & Local Fishing Vessels. #P63 has been tasked as On Scene Coordinator (OSC). pic.twitter.com/xidbBOhfFI
— Irish Naval Service (@naval_service) October 10, 2019
Searchers later found the wreckage of Kodie’s boat on Carbery Island, near Dunmanus Bay.
The Shannon-based Coast Guard helicopter R115 will conduct further searches this morning and shoreline searches will be conducted by Coast Guard units from Schull and Goleen.
The naval ship LE George Bernard Shaw, Castletownbere RNLI and a number of local vessels are also conducting a search that is focused on the general area where debris was located. A Naval Service diving team is also participating in the search.
The Healy family are well-known in the area and there was no shortage of offers of assistance once the alarm was raised.
Kodie is also familiar to those in GAA circles in the area.
The operation is primarily targeting an area of Dunmanus Bay where he was understood to have been tending to lobster pots.
He was fishing alone when he went missing.
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