The Pere Charles and Maggie B in Arklow. The boats sank in separate incidents. Seven people lost their lives in the tragedies

NO criminal charges are to be brought in relation to the sinking of the 'Pere Charles' trawler in 2007, which has finally been moved from Arklow harbour.

However, the wreck of the 'Maggie B', which sank the previous year, remains on dry dock more than two years since an investigation into its sinking began.

A total of seven lives were lost on the two ships, which were raised from the seabed for inspection.

The coastguard, acting on the instructions of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), refused to clarify any timeframe for the disposal of the 'Maggie B', saying only that it continued "to oversee its storage".

It said there was "no significant delay" in inspecting either vessel and refused to confirm the cost of salvage operations on the boats or give precise details of storage costs.

In a statement through the Department of Transport, it said simply that a "standard" harbour rate was being paid on an ongoing basis.

A local source said that aside from harbour fees, there would be additional costs associated with security, fencing and disposal.

While the coastguard has insisted there were no delays in inspections, the two ships had remained side by side on the dry dock for more than two years before the 'Pere Charles' was finally disassembled and removed in December.

Only after considerable local concerns were raised were the wrecks sealed off correctly in order to prevent public access.

Both the harbour master and the local yacht club were vocal about the negative impact the boats were having on the community.

Previously, the Department of Transport had stated that the boats could not be removed until such time as the DPP had made a decision on whether or not to bring charges. The 'Pere Charles' has been disposed of following the DPP's decision, but details on the other boat are unclear.

"The 'Pere Charles' is gone; we can't have asked for anything better," said Arklow harbour master James Heaney.

"The 'Maggie B' doesn't look too bad; she looks like she's just there for repairs. The other one was the one that looked bad.

"We got a lot of complaints from visitors using the port of how bad it looked. It was the first thing they saw coming into the harbour."

The 'Pere Charles' sank on 10 January 2007, leading to the loss of all five fishermen on board. They included Tom Hennessy (32), his uncle Pat Hennessy (48), Billy O'Connor (50), Andriy Dyrin (32), Pat Coady (27).

When the 'Maggie B' sank five miles south of Hook Head on 30 March 2006, two lives were lost – Glenn Cott (30) and Polish national Jan Snakowski (45). Krzysztof Patowski (38) survived.