Fisheries archive GJ van WelieThe UK 58 ‘Ex Mare Gratia’ disappeared from the radar on January 25, 1966
NOS Nieuws•vandaag, 21:23
After almost sixty years, there may be a breakthrough in the search for a missing Urk cutter. Researchers from the Maritime Missing Foundation Research Foundation say that they have found a wreck north of Vlieland that strongly resembles the cutter.
The UK 58 ‘Ex Mare Gratia’ disappeared from radar on January 25, 1966. The ship was fishing above Vlieland at the time and had five crew members on board. They, like the ship, were never found.
It is still a mystery to the relatives of the crew members what happened to the ship and those on board that day. They had therefore approached the Maritime Missing Research Foundation with the question whether a search could be set up. The foundation focuses on tracing missing fishing vessels.
Nameplate recovered
In recent months, the foundation has been looking for useful information, for example from old police reports or witness statements. The golden tip was eventually found in the National Archives in The Hague.
The researchers discovered that several years after the disappearance the cutter’s nameplate was fished up by another ship. That discovery was made near Texel. “In the National Archives we found a position that the fisherman who had found the nameplate had passed on,” Cees Meeldijk of the foundation told the regional broadcaster. NH. “So he must have disappeared somewhere around there.”
A scan of the seabed from the 1980s revealed a wreck that matched the cutter in length, writes Broadcasting Flevoland. In addition, the foundation had asked Rijkswaterstaat to rescan the part of the seabed. “There you could see very clearly the contours of a cutter on the bottom of the sea. That fits perfectly.”
Identifying wreckage
According to Meeldijk, it is almost inevitable that it concerns the UK 58. “In any case, it is enough for us to inform the relatives.”
To confirm the find, the foundation wants to organize a dive itself. Experienced divers will then go to the possible wreck and, based on characteristics of the ship, investigate whether it is really the UK 58. “It depends on the weather, but we want to dive on the wreck at Pentecost.”
The relatives will wait anxiously until then, says Meeldijk. “They are very grateful. It was very emotional. For them it is something that has always lived in the family. To get clarity about that is very important to them.”
2024-04-12 19:23:19
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