Cork diver hopes to unlock mysteries of the deep with three-man 'sub'

A renowned diver hopes to unlock the mysteries behind several Irish shipwrecks after acquiring a submarine capable of exploring unimaginable depths.

This will be the second commercial submersible launched by the West Cork-based former Naval Service diver, John Kearney who has been at the centre of some of the country’s most complex search and recovery dive operations.

His newest addition, the A-EX2 sub is the larger Super Yacht Sub 3 model which can accommodate three people including a pilot and two passengers.

It can dive for up to 12 hours to depths of 300m or about 1,000ft.

This is in contrast to Mr Kearney’s first submersible, the A-EX1 vessel which carried two people -a pilot and passenger- and can plunge to depths of 100m.

“It allows us to go out further into the west of Ireland and northwest of Ireland and so forth to discover new and deeper undiscovered shipwrecks,” John Kearney told the Irish Examiner.

Mr Kearney and his team, which comprises experienced ex-navy and military divers, have made a string of remarkable discoveries in the last 12 months.

“Last year we were looking for a fishing vessel up in Donegal. However, what we uncovered was another vessel that disappeared around 1940," he said.

"This was the final resting place of a wreck called the Leukos which was a fishing boat that left Dún Laoghaire at the beginning of World War II.

"The crew had been told to paint Irish flags on the side of their boat to distinguish them from the British vessels. A submarine popped up and wanted to take out four British ships.

"However, the Irish boat went in front of the British one. They killed everyone on the Irish boat including children before ramming the vessel and sinking it."

He said they initially landed on that wreck thinking it was a different one but then they started looking through and unravelling it.

"It was chilling, realising that this was a resting place for all these young kids. There is such a loss of life that comes with most of these wrecks so it’s all about having that empathy and respect for their memory.” He spoke about the perks of his job.

“Really we are very ordinary people. We could be down working on an operation for six hours before we get tired and have to pop off to one side," Mr Kearney said.

"That’s when we land on the seabed and have our lunch. We normally do this every 90 minutes because it gets so tiring.

"It’s quite funny to think you are having a tea break hundreds of meters under the sea. We do all the ordinary things but in a different environment. I even have the odd power nap.” No two days are ever the same for Mr Kearney and his team.

“There was one day where I had folk singer Jimmy Crowley in the submersible," he said.

"He didn’t realise we were down 40 or 50 metres until he spotted a pollock staring back at him. At that stage he asked to go back up again. He was great company and even sang Yellow Submarine on the way back up.” Safety is paramount for the team.

“There’s nothing that the Irish state can offer to help us if something goes wrong. They don’t have the expertise so whether it’s lifeboats or helicopters, none of those things are of any use to us.

"Fortunately, the submersibles are certified and we have our own procedures and systems in place to deal with the worst case scenario so it’s all very safe.”