Police Narrow Search Area in Hunt for Missing Lewis Fishermen
Police have identified a specific “area of interest” as they continue searching for two fishermen whose boat vanished off the north coast of Lewis in Scotland’s Western Isles earlier this week.
One body has already been recovered. Douglas Craigie was found on Wednesday, a day before what would have been his 50th birthday. Two other men aboard the vessel — 40-year-old Norman Murray, known as Tam, and his 23-year-old crewmate Murdo Morrison — remain unaccounted for.
The Marine Accident Investigation Branch has set up an exclusion zone for divers covering waters between the Butt of Lewis and Port of Ness, though boats are still permitted to operate in the area. Specialist police units are working alongside partner agencies to search the zone for the missing men and their boat.
According to Police Scotland, the pair are believed to have set out from Brevaig at around 07:30 on Tuesday morning, heading toward Port of Ness to fish. Their boat, named the Kilda, was reported overdue at approximately 21:20 that evening. Wide-ranging searches were mounted on Wednesday despite gale-force winds and rough weather, before HM Coastguard paused its operation on Thursday evening pending further developments.
Officers have appealed to residents not to risk their own safety by joining informal search efforts in hazardous sea conditions.
Ch Insp Ross McCartney, the local area commander for the Western Isles, said: “Our thoughts remain with everyone affected by this tragic incident. We are carrying out extensive work with our partners to further investigate the specific area in as safe a manner as possible. We understand how distressing and difficult this time will be for the families and we would ask that their privacy is respected.”
Officers will continue to be stationed in the Port of Ness area, and anyone with information or concerns has been urged to approach them directly.
Ness itself is a stretch of rugged coastline home to roughly 1,300 people, many living in crofting townships where families keep livestock and grow crops alongside other work. The parish also has one of the highest proportions of Gaelic speakers anywhere in the Western Isles.
Source: BBC News