THE remains of the trawlers Pere Charles and Maggie B remain sitting in Arklow harbour 18 months after they were put there for a "one month survey" to establish how they sank.

Locals in the Wicklow town are up in arms that the ships have been left by the government to rot on their dry dock, causing considerable local distress.

Complaints have been made to harbour officials, from visiting fishermen in particular, who are reminded of the tragedy that befell the crews, seven of whom lost their lives when the ships sank. The Pere Charles sank in January 2007 losing five of its crew. The Maggie B went under the previous year, with the loss of two lives.

The Arklow harbour master and Arklow sailing club have written many letters to government departments and state agencies in a bid to get answers as to the fate of the boats but say they have been ignored.

Chief amongst their concerns are the insensitivity towards the families who lost loved ones on board and the creation of a morbid scene in a fishing community which views the ships as "graves".

There are also fears that someone will be injured or killed climbing on the wreckages and there are concerns that they are being used by teenagers as a drinking location.

However, the Department of Transport maintains that the boats are classified as "evidence" and cannot legally be moved until the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) makes a decision on the case.

"These vessels were brought to Arklow to facilitate investigations by the Marine Casualty Investigation Board [MCIB] into the cause of their sinking," the department said in a statement.

"Following the findings of the MCIB the gardaí prepared files on both vessels and submitted them to the DPP. As potential evidence of a crime scene the vessels cannot be disposed of until such time as the DPP has taken a position on whether or not to pursue a criminal case."

But Arklow harbour master James Heaney, who says he has made up to 40 efforts to contact various state departments and agencies in relation to the ships, told the Sunday Tribune that the situation is provoking anger.

"We have had a lot of complaints from people about them being there for so long because people look at them like graves," he said.

"And we are getting a lot of complaints from visitors coming into the harbour saying 'what are you going to do with this?', [particularly] from visiting fishermen because everyone knows their history and they don't like to see them. They see them as graves that should have been left at the bottom."

In a bid to resolve the situation, Heaney has been in touch with the coast guard, the marine surveyor's office at the Department of Transport, the DPP and, most recently, the gardaí.

"When we agreed to take them they were to be there for a month and then disposed of. That was the agreement. But they have been here since November 2007," he said.

"What we are actually afraid of and we have put this in writing is that someone could fall off them and be very badly injured or killed. We have asked them to be moved to a safe place.

"We have been doing that for a year-and-a-half. Every time we write to someone they pass it on to someone else."

Paul Barrett, commodore of Arklow sailing club, said he has written to the authorities requesting that ships be cleared off the harbour in time for the inaugural Turbines Yacht Race which is due to take place at the end of the month and will feature boats racing around offshore wind turbines.

"It is a rusty monument to government inactivity. It shows incredible insensitivity," said Barrett.