5 Russian sailors feared dead off Welsh coast

[Treffie]

An air-sea search for five men missing from a sunken cargo carrier off north-west Wales is set to resume.

Emergency services returned at 07:30 GMT on Monday to the area of the Irish Sea where the ship sank after breaking in two on Sunday.

Two members of the Swanland's eight crew were plucked from a liferaft by an RAF rescue helicopter early on Sunday.

One man's body was found later but a search by lifeboats and aircraft discovered no trace of the rest.

The search was called off at 16:45 GMT on Sunday after beginning at about 02:00, when a mayday call was received from the 81m (265ft) coaster and its Russian-speaking crew.

One of the two survivors reported that the ship was struggling in gale force winds when it was struck by an "enormous" wave.


The Swanland came close to grounding on rocks off Cornwall last year Holyhead coastguards said the vessel disappeared from the radar screen at 02:20 and said a crew member told them it had been rolled over by the wave, breaking its back.

Search conditions improved during the day but a large amount of debris was found at the search location 30 miles north-west of the Lleyn peninsula.

One liferaft was found near Bardsey island off the peninsula, but it was empty.

Prince William, who is a helicopter co-pilot at RAF Valley on Anglesey, took part in the rescue of the two survivors.

Spotter plane

Irish rescue helicopters also participated in the operation as well as a spotter plane.

The RNLI launched the Porthdinllaen and Pwllheli lifeboats in the early hours. Holyhead's all-weather lifeboat joined the search in the afternoon.

The Swanland, a regular visitor to the area, was carrying rock that was loaded at the Llanddulas jetty near Abergele and was en route to Cowes, Isle of Wight.

In August 2010, the ship came close to grounding on rocks off the Lizard peninsula in Cornwall after the engines failed.

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[Beorn]

Sounds like the Swanland's captain is not worthy of the title.