Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

In an end of year commentary, the Coast Guard has highlighted, that despite the impact of Covid-19, 2020 has proven to be a relatively busy year. Overall, the Coast Guard coordinated 2643 incidents in comparison with 2490 incidents in 2019.…

Fifty-one lives were saved from drowning by rescuers who will receive recognition at Water Safety Ireland’s National Annual Awards Ceremony, broadcast online on Tuesday 24th November at 7 pm. The Minister for Rural & Community Development, Heather Humphreys will acknowledge…

The Irish Coast Guard’s Dublin-based helicopter was tasked to the rescue of a swimmer in difficulty off Greystones this afternoon, Wednesday 11 November. TheJournal.ie reports that the middle-aged woman was one of a number of people swimming in the sea…

Rescue agencies are reporting a record year for incidents on the water as thousands of people turned to the coastline, lakes and rivers during Covid-19. The Irish Coast Guard, RNLI and Water Safety Ireland have all been under pressure to…

Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan has appointed a new review board into the Air Accident Investigation Unit’s (AAIU) final report on the Rescue 116 helicopter crash. As The Irish Independent reports today, the review experienced a setback last month when…

Belfast Harbour has pledged support to Lagan Search & Rescue to the tune of £100,000 (€110,000) over the next five years, as the News Letter reports. The arrangement includes continued provision of an operations base and lifeboat berths for the…

The UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency's (MCA) annual report for April 2019 – March 2020 has been published this week, highlighting the work of the Agency for the 12 month period. Although the report doesn’t cover the period where the…

Yesterday (Sunday 18th) Lough Neagh Rescue came to the aid of a Bayliner speedboat with one person and a dog on board in the vicinity of Rams Island on the Lough. The vessel was experiencing engine difficulties. Rams Island is…

Skippingstone Beach is a popular swimming venue a short distance to the west of Bangor Harbour on Belfast Lough and sadly was the scene this morning (13th October) of a fatality. It is only a few hundred yards from the…

Two people — one with an injured ankle — were rescued by the Irish Coast Guard after getting stuck on a cliff near the Baily Lighthouse on Howth Head yesterday afternoon (Sunday 11 October). Howth Coast Guard’s cliff team reached the scene…

Last Sunday (4th October) Lough Neagh Rescue Lifeboat was tasked to two people stranded on Coney Island as their vessel had mechanical issues. Coney Island is owned by the National Trust and lies in the south-west corner of Lough Neagh…

Kayakers have been urged to always carry some means of attracting attention in an emergency, such as flares or a torch. The call from the RNLI came after an incident off Somerset in the UK last month in which two…

The two Galway fishermen who rescued two paddleboarders in August have been honoured at a mayoral reception. Mayor of Galway Mike Cubbard described Patrick Oliver and his son Morgan as “Claddagh royalty” when he presented them with a framed presentation…

A young girl was rescued after she slipped and fell onto a coastal cliff in Co Down yesterday afternoon (Sunday 27 September). The major rescue operation took place at Ardglass after the 11-year-old slipped 20 feet down a steep bank…

The Irish Coast Guard saved 379 lives and assisted more than 3,500 people during the course of 2019. The figures are included in the first annual report on Ireland’s National Search and Rescue Plan, which was published yesterday (Monday 21…

A west of Ireland community search and rescue service says it is “devastated” after the theft of up to 13,000 euro of equipment from its Zodiac rescue craft. As Afloat reported earlier, a Yamaha engine and GPS plotter were stolen…