Youghal RNLI on back to back callouts

Yesterday afternoon (Tuesday 11 August) in Youghal Harbour, a 28-foot traditional half-decker vessel with 11 passengers, one crew member and a dog onboard, ran into difficulty and began taking on water.

A nearby motor vessel, the MFV Kestral, owned and operated by Jack Nolan came to their assistance with crewmember Liam Keogh. Jack and Liam are both volunteer Helms with Youghal lifeboat. While en route they learned that the situation was more serious than initially thought, with a significant amount of water coming into the vessel and Youghal RNLI was requested to launch.

After arriving on scene, Liam Keogh boarded the casualty vessel and helped take the eleven passengers off and onto the safety of the Kestral boat. Youghal lifeboat arrived on scene and crewmember Alan Revins went aboard the casualty vessel with a salvage pump, which by now was taking on a large amount of water and quickly got the flooding under control. Shortly afterwards the three vessels arrived in the Market dock where all passengers were safety brought ashore.

Youghal Fire Service was also in attendance and offered a large salvage pump along with members of Youghal Coast Guard who assisted passengers coming ashore and at the pontoon with the berthing of the vessels.

Youghal RNLI Lifeboat Operations Manager John Hearne said, ‘The quick actions of Jack Nolan and Liam Keogh were instrumental in the successful rescue and with the pair, joined on scene by their RNLI colleagues, Alan Revins, Declan Troy and Jason Innes, in the lifeboat, all twelve people were brought to safety in a matter of minutes. Our lifeboat crew train to every eventuality and this callout shows how quickly a small ingress of water can turn into a real-life emergency.’

A short time later, while the volunteer crew were washing down the lifeboat, the crew were requested to launch again. This time both Jack and Liam were aboard as lifeboat crew, joined by Alan Revins and Jason Innes. The lifeboat was requested to go to the assistance of a person aboard a leisure fishing vessel who had sustained a serious injury, which was inflicted from a shark bite, southeast of Ram Head. A paramedic winchman from the Waterford based helicopter Rescue 117 treated the injuries. Youghal lifeboat assisted by pacing the casualty vessel as a visual reference for the helicopter crew and the casualty was then airlifted to Cork University Hospital. Ballycotton all-weather lifeboat was also in attendance.

Ends

RNLI Media Contacts

For further information, please contact:

Youghal RNLI Volunteer Lifeboat Press Officer Mel Mullane Tel: 086 101 5562

Niamh Stephenson, RNLI Communications Staff Member for RNLI, [email protected]

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The RNLI is the charity that saves lives at sea. Its volunteers provide a 24-hour search and rescue service around the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland coasts. The RNLI operates 238 lifeboat stations in the UK and Ireland and more than 240 lifeguard units on beaches around the UK and Channel Islands. The RNLI is independent of Coastguard and government and depends on voluntary donations and legacies to maintain its rescue service. Since the RNLI was founded in 1824, its lifeboat crews and lifeguards have saved over 146,700 lives.

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