Castletownbere RNLI launches in Force 7 winds to assist two fishermen
Castletownbere RNLI were launched early this morning (Sunday 16 February) to assess the situation where two people were on a vessel taking on water south of Blackball Head off the Beara peninsula.
Castletownbere lifeboat volunteer crew were requested to launch by Valentia Coast Guard Marine Coordination Centre at 4.20am. The 20m fishing boat, with two people onboard was taking water and had lost power.
The lifeboat was launched at 4.30am under the command of Coxswain Marney O’Donoghue, mechanic David O’Donovan and crew Dean Hegarty, Joe Cronin and Andrew O’Neill.
When the lifeboat arrived on scene two miles south-west of Blackball Head, another local fishing boat was standing by. Conditions were described as Force 7 south- easterly winds and a 4 to 5 metre swell. At this stage, the boat had lost power and lifeboat crew having assessed the situation and noting the crew could not make any safe onward progress, made a decision to carry out a tow. The crew managed to attach a towline in challenging conditions. The lifeboat slowly proceeded to tow the vessel back to Castletownbere harbour where a local tug assisted with berthing the boat at the pier.
Commenting on the call out, Brendan O'Neill, Castletownbere RNLI Launching Authority, stated: ‘Given the poor weather conditions, the crew aboard the fishing boat made the correct decision to call for help immediately and we are glad that everyone is now ashore safe and well.'
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