As new research undermines the official theory about the loss of the Bugaled Breizh, the Celtic League contends that there should also be a sceptical reassessment of other similar fishing tragedies in the Irish and Celtic Seas in which many Breton, Scottish and Welsh fishermen lost their lives.
The controversy surrounding the sinking of the Bugaled Breizh off the Cornish coast in 2004 has been renewed in Brittany, as another official theory attempting to explain the accident that killed 5 Breton fishermen is dismissed.
In November 2006 the Bureau Enquête Accident-Mer (BEA-Mer), a French agency which investigates the cause of accidents at sea, advanced the theory that the fishing vessel had sunk as a consequence of being accidentally hooked onto something in the sand of the sea-bed.
However in August 2006 the Institut français de recherché pou l'exploitation de la mer (Ifremer) was asked to investigate why the vessel had been sunk, as part of a judicial investigation, using the latest digital simulations. The Ifremer conclusions were published last week in 'le Marin' and reveal that the BEA-Mer hypothesis, of the vessel sinking after being hooked on something, is not possible.
The families of the drowned fishermen have always maintained that the Bugaled Breizh was sunk by a submarine on patrol in the area at the time, but the navies of different states, including the Netherlands, UK and France, have vehemently denied this could have occurred. Nevertheless the judicial investigation into the sinking highlighted a number of discrepancies in the reports from the Royal Navy, on the day the fishing boat was sunk.
The conclusions of the Ifremer also have wider implications. In several high profile sinkings over the past quarter century the conclusion that fishing vessels, invariably crewed by experienced hands, have snagged sea-bed obstructions and capsized has been a 'convenient' explanation for bemused regulatory authorities.
When the Cite D'Aleth, also from Brittany, sank of Wexford in 1983 with the loss of 10 crew the theory of accidental foundering, following the fouling of an undersea object, was suggested. In addition when the Kirkudbright registered vessel Mhari L was last with all (5) hands off the SE of the Isle of Man the implausible theory was advanced that the vessel, in perfect weather conditions, snagged a sea-bed obstruction and towed herself under. Also of the SE of the Isle of Man when the Tilj Uilenspiegel from Belgium was lost in 1988 - with all her crew in similar perfect sea conditions - once again the explanation that the vessel caught its trawl in an object on the sea-bed was advanced.
Each of these tragedies (and a number of others) cry out for reassessment given the implausibility of the official explanation for the sinkings.
The Celtic League have frequently called on National and International maritime bodies to re-examine these sea tragedies - many of which ocurred during the Cold War in areas known to be frequented or used for exercises by submarines.
Although the Cold War has long since ended it increasingly seems that the Bugaled Breizh was also the victim of more recent 'War Games'.
J B Moffatt Director of Information Celtic League
04/01/08
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