Lough Ree RNLI rescues two people in late night search
Lough Ree RNLI rescued two people from a grounded 40ft steel cruiser in Carrownure Bay on the Roscommon shore during a three hour search operation in the early hours of this morning.
The Irish Coast Guard alerted the volunteer lifeboat crew at 1.09am this morning (Monday 14 August) to assist a man and woman onboard a 40ft steel cruiser that had lost power and was drifting between Lecarrow and Athlone.
The conditions at the time were moderate with a southerly force two to three breeze and thick cloud cover and frequent heavy showers.
The lifeboat crew began a search operation including setting off flares to help narrow the search field with the couple onboard the casualty vessel in regular communication with the lifeboat station via telephone to let them know if they could see the flares.
The Irish Coast Guard requested their helicopter, Rescue 118 from Sligo to join the search operation at 2am. Once on scene, the two people were able to let the lifeboat station know that they could see the helicopter through tree cover, thus further narrowing the search area.
The lifeboat crew located the casualty vessel at 4.06am, in treacherous rocky waters in Carrownure Bay on the Roscommon shore. The two people, tired but uninjured were removed from the vessel and taken to Hudson Bay.
Speaking this morning Stan Bradbury, Lough Ree RNLI Volunteer Helm said: ‘We were delighted to have a positive outcome from our search efforts last night and to be able to bring the two people to safety. As peak season continues on Lough Ree we would like to remind all users of the lough to respect the water’.
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For more information please contact Sarah Bradbury Lough Ree RNLI Volunteer Deputy Lifeboat Press Officer Tel: 087 1210658 email: [email protected] or Niamh Stephenson RNLI Public Relations Manager Tel: 087 1254 124 / 01 8900 460 email [email protected] or Nuala McAloon RNLI Press Officer Tel: 087 6483547 email: [email protected]
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