Diver who died at Portland Fish Pier identified as Scarborough man

A diver whose body was recovered from the Portland Fish Pier on Wednesday afternoon has been identified as Dennis McGrath, 56, of Scarborough.

McGrath was diving under the fishing vessel Jamie & Ashley, which was docked at the Portland Fish Pier at 300 Commercial St. He was removing tangled line from the prop and shaft when he died, according to Portland police.

McGrath received an injury in the incident, though police would not provide specifics about the injury, saying the case remains under investigation.

In a release Thursday, police said McGrath’s death did not appear suspicious, but did not elaborate.

The call to emergency workers on Wednesday said only that a person was in the water, and shed no further light on what might have happened.

The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner was conducting an autopsy Thursday afternoon but no information was available about his cause of death, officials said.

Waterfront workers said McGrath is a commercial diver who worked on boats.

The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration did not immediately return a call for comment on whether it was investigating McGrath’s death. The agency covers most employees but does not cover self-employed workers.

The Jamie & Ashley is a 65-foot fishing boat, one of two owned by Eat Local Fish, according to the company’s website. A woman answering the telephone at the company office described the death as a terrible tragedy but declined to comment further.

Deputy Fire Chief Robert Thompson said Wednesday the fire department deployed two fireboats to help with the recovery, while a crew of divers from the police department went into the water.

Thompson said it took “quite a while” for the police divers to recover the body after the city was notified of a possible diving accident around 5:20 p.m. McGrath’s family was notified Wednesday night.

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