Some of the bodies were recovered at Tiraun Point by local Blacksod farmers who had joined the search for the drowned sailors. The Chief Engineer described turbulent weather conditions and when the boat began to take water an SOS message was put out.Īn image taken on board the Stientje Mensinga during a previous journey. The crew did not realise they had hit rocks at first but later saw what they had hit. He said their ship ran aground just before 4am. Louis Vaneijk, the Chief Engineer of the Stientje Mesinga, told the inquest that they left Foynes in Limerick bound for Derry that morning. Referred to as ‘The Boy’ by his colleagues, the captain of his ship Johannes Okkens told an inquest held in Belmullet of the youth’s remarkable courage. The death of 16-year old Jorge Mucke left a particular mark at the time. The German rescue party who lost their lives were: Günther Welsch (38), 2nd Officer Kiel Volker Breitner (19), Harald Leopold (18), Detlev Utzen (19) and Jörge Mücke (16). The horrendous weather conditions on the night even saw a snowstorm strike. All night people from Belmullet kept watch from the shore in the hope that the frail boat might have been driven on to land. A British Royal Air Force plane was called upon, lifeboat crews, fishing vessels, and Belmullet Fire Brigade all responded. The recovery operation was described as one of the most extensive ever seen off the Irish coast. Seven of the bodies were later recovered ten miles from the scene.
Tragically, a line to the lifeboat snapped and it was swept away to its doom. The German vessel launched a lifeboat, but in reality, it was a flimsy craft, and they sought to brave the elements and save their stricken fellow sailors. The Maria Schulte was in the area and some of its crew bravely attempted to rescue the remaining men from the Stientje Mensinga. Captain Johannes ‘Joop’ Mink (33) Geert Jan Kiewiet (27), 1st Mate Sjoerd Meibos (21), 2nd Engineer, and Oudeschoot Bastiaan ‘Bas’ van Rijn (26), 3rd Engineer, stayed on board as the their colleagues were winched to safety. The Royal Navy helicopter pulled three Dutch and three Spanish sailors from the battered wreckage of the half-submerged Stientje Mensinga. SOS messages brought the Arranmore lifeboat tugs and a British navy helicopter from Ballykelly, Co Derry racing to the scene.
What could have been a heartwarming tale of a dramatic sea rescue turned to tragedy in horrific weather conditions. The crash sparked a rescue operation that saw six men saved from the sinking boat but in a cruel twist of fate, four Dutch crew members from the Stienje Mesnsinga and five seamen from the German vessel, Maria Schulte, who had attempted to come to their aid, sadly perished. On December 4, 1961, the Dutch coaster, Stientje Mensinga, hit a rock off Eagle Island in the early hours of the morning.
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