#RNLI - Wicklow RNLI's all-weather lifeboat launched at 2.50pm yesterday afternoon (Wednesday 14 June) to assist the crew of a whelk fishing vessel off the Wicklow coast.
The skipper contacted Wicklow Head Coast Guard by VHF radio for assistance after a rope got caught in the trawler’s propeller.
The lifeboat, under the command of senior deputy second coxswain Tom McAulay and a volunteer crew, was alongside the casualty 40 minutes after launching at a point over 12 miles north of Wicklow Port near the Codling Bank.
While the lifeboat was en route, the three fishermen reported that they managed to clear the rope from the propeller and were able to get underway.
McAulay carried out an assessment and the lifeboat escorted the trawler while it crossed the Codling Bank.
Once satisfied that the obstruction was clear and the fishing vessel was capable of resuming its passage safely back to Wicklow Harbour, the lifeboat returned to station.
The crew on the call out were McAuley, mechanic Brendan Copeland, Terry Sillery, Carol Flahive, Lisa O’Leary, Paul Sillery and Dean Mulvihill.
