Twenty-five people rescued from yacht in Clew Bay
TWENTY-FIVE people were rescued in a 16-hour mission after a sailing vessel made contact with a fish farm in Clew Bay yesterday (Wednesday) morning.
Achill Island RNLI was requested to launch at 4.30 a.m. to reports of a 24-metre sailing vessel with 25 people onboard, which had made contact with a fish farm one mile east of Clare Island. The vessel was reported to be taking on water.
The all-weather lifeboat launched under Coxswain Dave Curtis and with mechanic Michael Cattigan, navigator Terry Hogarth and crew members Patrick McNamara, Kevin Cattigan and Orlagh Blake-Dillon onboard. The Irish Coast Guard helicopter, Rescue 118, from Sligo was also tasked.
With the vessel taking on water, it was decided that the safest course of immediate action was to transfer 16 non-essential crew members and bring them safely to shore nearby at Clare Island.
The lifeboat crew then returned to the scene to monitor the vessel and remained there until the situation was brought under control by the fish farm.
Once this was done, the lifeboat proceeded to Clare Island where the 16 crew were transferred back on to the lifeboat and brought safely to shore at Achill Island.
The lifeboat crew then returned to the scene and monitored the situation until the vessel was removed from the fish farm. The lifeboat then safely escorted it back to Achill, arriving at 8 p.m.
Speaking following the call-out, Coxswain Dave Curtis said: “This was a lengthy call-out for our volunteers, commencing in the early hours of Wednesday morning and not finishing to late yesterday evening, and they deserve great credit for a job well done.
“We would like to commend those on the sailing vessel, those working for the fish farm and everyone else involved yesterday, including the Clare Island nurse and the community centre staff, for working together in challenging circumstances to help bring the crew to safety and for monitoring an ongoing situation where a vessel was taking on water and needed to be freed from the farm.
“This was a time-consuming process but the efforts of all involved ensured everyone came ashore safely.”