The French State Regional broadcaster, France 3, is planning to make a documentary about the mysterious sinking and snagging of motor fishing vessels (MFVs) by submarines over the past several decades.

Researchers from France 3 have been in touch with the Celtic League which gathered information for two decades on the issue and also campaigned for action by National governments of those states which operate submarines and also the International Maritime Organisation (IMO).

The League documented a series of incidents and sinkings over the period from 1970 - 1995 at which time it scaled down its monitoring of the issue following a reduction in the number of incidents due to the end of the Cold War. The campaign led directly to action by the IMO to address the problem and also led several navies including the Royal Navy to adopt new operational procedures.

The issue attracted enormous media attention at the time and was also vigorously aired in the UK parliament and also the Irish Dail. In one Dail debate a member of the governing Fianna Fail Party, later to become a Minister for the Marine, suggested that over one hundred fishermen may have perished in such incidents.

The problem has been given new prominence following the sinking of the Breton MFV, Bugaled Breizh, which foundered suddenly in January 2004 with the loss of all five crew members on board. A major NATO exercise was underway at the time and there have been accusations that the vessel was towed under by one of a number of British, French, Dutch or German submarines in the area at the time.

The issue has created a huge public reaction in Brittany. However, it is not the first time Breton vessels have been at the centre of such controversy. One of the most significant losses of life which occurred during the Cold War period was the loss of the Breton trawler Cite D'Aleth off Wexford in 1983, 10 crew members perished.

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The Submarine/MFV monitoring was part of a wide-ranging study of the impact of military activity on the Celtic countries coordinated via the Isle of Man (Mannin) branch of the League over several decades from the 1970s. Most of the comprehensive information the Celtic League gathered during this period is lodged in the Manx National Heritage Library for open access to researchers (Additional material is also archived at the National Library for Wales). Just last year an American and US researcher visited the Island to examine the material and in December 2001 a researcher compiling a report for the Japanese government also utilised the files whilst preparing a report for the Japanese parliament.

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It is hoped that the France 3 documentary will be filmed next month in Brittany, Ireland and also Mannin.

Related articles on Celtic News at:

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Older Celtic News archive about military exercise safety campaign by Celtic League here:

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J B Moffatt Director of Information Celtic League

06/06/08

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