LEATHER sheaths found alongside human remains in Russia suggest the bones could belong to crew members of Hull trawler Gaul. Assistant Chief Constable Alan Leaver, of Humberside Police, confirmed the sheaths found with the remains are unlikely to belong to Russian nationals.
DNA tests are being carried out by the Russian authorities to identify them and relatives of the Gaul crew members who died are being swabbed for comparison. Up to ten bodies are being examined.
The discovery comes almost 40 years after the trawler disappeared during a fierce storm in February 1974. The trawler was lost in the Barents Sea, 70 miles off Norway, with the loss of her entire 36-man crew.
Mr Leaver said: "There were sheaths found among the remains and the leather is of a very good quality, which is better than that used by the Russian military or the local fishermen at the time.
"That leans towards them not being from Russia."
The Mail understands the sheaths were commonly used by Hull fishermen.
Having found out about the remains in September last year, Mr Leaver says he has agonised over when to tell the families.
At the weekend, he personally told some of the family members and a team of 18 liaison officers were on hand to break the news to all of them around the same time.
Mr Leaver said: "Since we found out, there has been slow but steady progress.
"We have been working closely with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Russian authorities. We have to work diplomatically.
"We feel now is the right time to let the families know we have this information. I have been very anxious to tell them, but we wanted to ensure what we had to say was meaningful.
"We didn't want to wait until the 40th anniversary to let them know."
The remains had initially been found on the Rybachy peninsula in the Murmansk region of Russia in the mid-1970s by people living nearby.
Mr Leaver shed more light on why it had taken so long for the remains to be tested.
He said: "The bodies seemed to have been washed ashore in 1974 or 1975 and were then buried by locals under rocks as the ground was too hard to dig holes.
"They were rediscovered 18 months ago by a local researcher, who is aware of the Gaul.
"He and his team often do a sweep of the peninsula where bodies are regularly washed up and the locals told him about the burials.
"He then alerted the Russian authorities and made his findings public.
"There is no conspiracy around the length of time this has taken to come to light."
The current role of Humberside Police is to support the families and then ensure the tests are carried out.
Mr Leaver said: "I have to say the families have been unfailingly polite and courteous.
"Our primary job is to make sure we provide support and information for them.
"The end game is to establish whether the remains belong to crew members from the Gaul, but this will take time.
"In terms of the next step, we will be working closely with the Russian authorities in order to carry out the DNA tests.
"With the scientific techniques available today, we should be able to find out.
"The bones that have been found should provide a good sample."
He said if the remains are not from the Gaul, they would not be in a position to establish who the bodies belonged to.
Mr Leaver said: "Even if the remains to prove to be from the Gaul, I don't think this will establish, one way or the other, what the cause of the sinking was.
"Previous inquiries have found the Gaul was overwhelmed by water in a storm and I don't think that position will change."
10
