FAMILIES of the crew aboard the Gaul trawler hope a police visit to Russia will finally give them some answers. Humberside Police want to send three officers to Russia, where they will assess the remains of up to ten bodies, which it is thought may be those of the ill-fated crew.
Mystery surrounds the tragedy, which saw all 36 crew members perish, when the Hull trawler sank off the Norwegian coast, on February 8, 1974, and speculation into the circumstances has only grown since potential remains of the crew were uncovered in Russia in 2012.
Police are currently in discussions with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), which is liaising with the Russian Authorities, who must first give their consent for the visit.
But Andy Atkinson, 50, who lost his father Raymond in the tragedy, when he was just ten years old, has accused the Russians of "dragging their feet" in the investigation and has made calls for a Gaul family member to accompany the police when they visit.
He said: "We are pleased they could be going on this visit but, we still feel in the dark. There are no definite answers, it is all still ifs and buts. I get the impression the Russians are being awkward.
"It is not a criminal matter, so if they let a family member go with the police, so they can hear the emotive side of it all, that might have some impact because all they have heard so far is the formal, police side of it.
"There should be no objections to a family member going with them, so there is complete transparency."
The remains were initially found on the Rybachy peninsula, in the Murmansk region of Russia, in the mid-1970s. The bodies reportedly washed ashore in 1974 or 1975 and were then buried by locals under rocks.
They were rediscovered in 2012 by a researcher who was aware of the sinking of the Gaul.
A date has yet to be set for the police visit, during which they will be accompanied by an anthropologist, who will see if there is a way of identifying whether the remains belong to the men who died on the Gaul.
DNA samples have been taken from relatives of Gaul crew members for comparison to the remains.
A police spokesman said: "We are committed to keeping the families up to date at all times and have family liaison officers deployed, who provide them with relevant news at regular intervals as appropriate.
"The next stage in this inquiry will be determined by the findings of the assessment visit."
But Mr Atkinson, of Netherton Road, west Hull, does not believe the families should have been told about the bones until they knew they belonged to Gaul crew members.
He said: "If it is the Gaul crew, it is fantastic and, personally, I would love it to be my father, but, it should never have taken this long.
"We shouldn't have been told about the bones until they knew for sure.
"All it has done is lifted our hopes for probabilities."
Beryl Betts, 74, lost her brother Billy Jones in the tragedy. She said: "All we can do is wait and see. It is very frustrating because we cannot get on with anything as it is always in the back of your mind."In 1974, we were told the remains had been washed up and that is what we believed. Now, we don't know what to believe.
"It has been horrendous for us, but we, as a family, cannot see what we will be getting back from all of this. We don't want it to be our brother because of the emotions it will bring back for us all. It will bring everything back.
"It isn't something we will never come to terms with but, before all this, things had quietened down and now, everything has been brought back up.
"For a lot of families, this is good news but for our family, personally, we would rather leave it to rest."
