#TallShips - Four RNLI lifeboats were involved in the rescue of 30 crew from the tall ship Astrid, which sank off the Cork coast earlier today (Wednesday 24 July).

The 42m Dutch training vessel reportedly hit rocks inside the Sovereign Islands at Ballymacus Point, near Kinsale.

All on board were brought to safety when the Kinsale lifeboat transferred the casualties from the sinking ship onto the Courtmacsherry RNLI lifeboat and a local vessel. They were then taken to Kinsale.

Both Kinsale and Courtmacsherry RNLI lifeboats were called out at 12 noon today to go to the immediate aid of the sail training vessel that had got into difficulties on the western entrance to Kinsale Harbour in Cork.

Ballycotton and Crosshaven RNLI were also launched, though the Kinsale RNLI lifeboat was first on scene. There was a 2m swell and winds were force five to six.

The training vessel had lost power and was apparently driven on to rocks by a strong southerly wind at the western entrance to Kinsale Harbour. The grounded vessel was taking on water and a crewmember from Kinsale RNLI was put onboard.

Eighteen of the casualties were taken off the Astrid by Kinsale RNLI lifeboat and transferred to Courtmacsherry lifeboa, before being brought to safety. The remaining 12 were put onto a liferaft deployed by the Astrid’s crew, which was towed to safety by the Kinsale lifeboat and picked up by a local vessel.

The people on board the liferaft were then taken to Kinsale harbour and assessed by medical teams.

Irish Coast Guard helicopters from Waterford and Shannon were also on scene along with ambulances and medical crews from Cork.

Speaking about the call-out, Courtmacsherry RNLI coxswain Sean O’Farrell said: “Everyone was very fortunate. I want to praise the quick thinking of the skipper and the crew from the Astrid. They kept calm and did everything we asked them to do. We were able to get them to safety quickly and a major tragedy was averted. To be able to recover 30 people safely was a great day for everyone involved.”

Meanwhile, the Irish Sailing Association has issued the following media statement on behalf of the tall ship Astrid:

Tall Ship Astrid was on a voyage from Southampton to Cherbourg calling in to Kinsale. On board were 23 trainees from France, Ireland, the Netherlands, UK and Spain. The crew were from Belgium and the captain, Pieter de Kam was from the Netherlands.

As the Astrid was leaving Oysterhaven, as part of The Gathering Cruise parade of sail to Kinsale, the vessel experienced engine failure. They notified a nearby RIB which was being helmed by Irish Sailing Association (ISA) CEO Harry Hermon.

The RIB attempted to take a line from Astrid. However, due to the onshore winds and swell this was not possible. Captain de Kam issued a May Day.

The ISA RIB and the yachts in The Gathering Cruise flotilla stood by until the RNLI arrived. There was a safe rescue of all 30 crew who were brought to Kinsale on board the yacht Spirit of Oysterhaven and the lifeboat. All crew were brought to Kinsale Yacht Club where they were provided with showers, food and dry clothing. They were all medically checked and are in good health.

Sail Training Ireland and Kinsale Yacht Club are working together to make arrangements for accommodation and for returning the crew to their homes.

Commenting on the rescue, Captain Pieter de Kam of the Tall Ship Astrid stated: “I would like to thank the lifeboat and the coastguard for the safe rescue of all my crew. We very much appreciate their outstanding work.”

Harry Hermon, CEO of the Irish Sailing Association, commented: “It is thanks to the rescue services that all crew were rescued quickly and safely without injury. I would also like to thank all the sailors from the Gathering Cruise who stood by Astrid providing support to the crew.

"Kinsale Yacht Club has also been fantastic providing food and clothing and helping Sail Training Ireland find accommodation for all the crew”.

#RNLI - The Castletownbere RNLI volunteer lifeboat crew have aided in the recovery of the body of a man from the sea some 2.4km off Travarra on the Beara Peninsula in West Cork.



The lifeboat launched at 1.35pm yesterday afternoon (Monday 22 July) and was joined by Irish Coast Guard helicopter Rescue 115, Derrynane inshore rescue and the Castletownbere coastguard.

A man believed to be in his earl 20s was sighted in the water at Travarra at around 2.30pm and recovered by a local vessel before being transferred onto the RNLI lifeboat and returned to Castletownbere. He was pronounced dead at the scene by a doctor.



Commenting on the call-out, Castletownbere RNLI deputy coxswain Paul Stevens said: “This is a terrible tragedy and we extend our sympathies to the young man’s family and friends.” 

#WaterSafety - Rosslare RNLI has given credit to the quick-thinking member of the public who raised the alarm over what they believed to be a swimmer in difficulty - even though the call-out turned out to be a false alarm.

Lifeboats from Rosslare Harbour and Wexford RNLI were involved in the sea search on Friday evening (19 July) after a swimmer was reported to be in difficulty off Curracloe beach in Co Wexford.

The Irish Coast Guard helicopter Rescue 117 and two local fishing vessels were also involved in the search, which was stood down after an hour and 45 minutes upon coastguard request as no one was reported missing.

Speaking after the call-out, Rosslare RNLI deputy launching authority Dave Maloney said: "The member of the public who raised the alarm this evening deserves credit for doing so."

He added: "We would always encourage the public to alert the emergency services if they see anyone they believe to be in trouble or any signs of danger."

The message is particularly important in a fortnight that has seen a shocking 10 drownings around the island of Ireland - resulting in a big rise in emergency call-outs over the 2012 mid-summer period.

Elsewhere on the same day, the Ballycotton RNLI lifeboat was requested to help search the water off Ballinamona Strand in Ballycotton Bay, Co Cork, for a missing five-year-old girl.

The little girl was playing on the strand when her family lost sight of her.  Emergency services were alerted and a search of the area commenced, but thankfully a short while later the little girl was located safe and well.

In other water safety news, the Irish Coast Guard has issued a public appeal for help locating a training mannequin that was lost in Galway Bay during an exercise off Blackhead in North Clare last week.

The Connacht Tribune reports that five coastguard mannequins were placed in the water to acts as people who jumped overboard from a ship fire - but only four were recovered afterwards.

#RNLI - A steady stream of people were welcomed by Wicklow RNLI at the lifeboat station's annual open day on Sunday 14 July.

Doors opened at 11am and the volunteer lifeboat crew was on hand to give tours of the station and its two lifeboats.

Activities included face painting and a joint display by Wicklow Fire and Ambulance Services. Garda, Customs and Civil Defence also put on displays throughout the afternoon, while the Irish Coast Guard helicopter flew over with the winch crew waving to the crowd below.


The final display was a simulated call-out of the inshore lifeboat. The three crew members onboard demonstrated how fast they could get into their lifeboat gear and launch.

The planned exercise involved a rescue to an injured sailor from a boat which was located in front of the crowd. The crew handed him over to a waiting ambulance.

Folk group Sheringham Shantymen travelled from Norfolk for the open day to see the station's inshore boat, which the group funded and which was named in their honour at a ceremony in 2007. 

The Shantymen entertained the crowd with music and concluded the open day with a rendition of the lifeboat anthem, Home From The Sea.


Speaking after the event,  Wicklow RNLI volunteer lifeboat press officer Tommy Dover said: "We have had a fantastic weekend with the Sheringham Shantymen. One of the highlights was the concert on Saturday night where the crew was invited to join the group on stage to sing Home From the Sea.

"The crew has a long association with the Shantymen and the lifeboat they funded has rescued 32 people to date at Wicklow."

Meanwhile, a successful sea safety roadshow was held at Sligo Bay RNLI during the weekend's Sea Shanty Festival.

Numerous lifejackets were checked with many having various faults such as corded cylinder, loose cylinder or out of date firing heads. Many people also sought advice about flares, anchors and VHF radios.


RNLI Sea Safety Roadshow adviser Joe Morr said: "It was a very successful weekend in Rosses Point and I hope to bring the roadshow back again next year."

#RNLI - Achill Island RNLI responded to two separate incidents off the Mayo coast last Sunday 14 July.

The volunteer lifeboat crew was first requested to launch in the early hours of Sunday morning and again in the evening of the same day.



The crew on board the station’s all-weather lifeboat responded to a call-out a few minutes into Sunday morning when a red flare was reported to Malin Head Coast Guard Radio Station. 

The flare was believed to have been seen on the Westport side of Clew Bay. The lifeboat searched the area but nothing was found and the crew returned to station at 3am.



The second incident happened at around 7.30pm when a cruiser with four people on board reported to Malin Head Coast Guard that it had engine problems and was disabled. 

This was in the vicinity of Old Head on the south side of Clew Bay, and the Achill lifeboat was requested to assist the vessel.

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The casualty vessel was towed to Old Head Pier by another boat that was close by, and the lifeboat ensured that all were safe before returning to station.

#RNLI - Courtmacsherry RNLI assisted two people after their yacht got into difficulty at the weekend.

The volunteer lifeboat crew was called out at 5.15pm on Saturday (13 July) to go to the aid of a yacht off Courtmacsherry Harbour in West Cork. 

The all-weather lifeboat with a crew of six was underway within minutes and proceeded to the area where the casualty had developed mechanical failure. The lifeboat arrived on the scene in 10 minutes and proceeded to take the yacht with two people on board in tow. 

Both the lifeboat and the stricken vessel were subsequently berthed at the pier in Courtmacsherry village.

This has been a busy week so far for Courtmacsherry RNLI with today's call-out being the fourth in five days.

The others were on Tuesday 9 July to an overdue jet ski in Clonakilty Bay, Thursday 11 July to the aid a windsurfer off Garrettstown, and Friday 12 July to a reported dingy off the Old Head of Kinsale which turned out to be a dead and upturned whale in the sea.

Elsewhere, Saturday was a busy evening for the Courtown lifeboat in Co Wexford.

1. lifeboat was launched to a report of two vessels aground in a cove south of Courtown Harbour, quickly locating the vessels – a 15ft speedboat and a personal water craft (PWC) – just south of the harbour in the area known as Salt Rock.

There were two people with the vessels and the speedboat was grounded but swamped.

The lifeboat took both casualties, who were very cold, back to the harbour and then returned first to recover, bail out and tow the speedboat back, and then out to tow the PWC back into the harbour.


The lifeboat then returned to station and refuelled, ready for the Sea Sunday celebrations the following day.

#RNLI - Portaferry RNLI in Co Down had a busy weekend with four separate call-outs over the two days.

The first came on Saturday 6 July following a report that three children were drifting offshore on an inflatable toy.

The volunteer lifeboat crew was already afloat on exercise as part of the annual raft race in Kircubbin, Co Down, when they got a call to go to the aid of the three children aged 10, 11 and 14 who were drifting out to sea on the inflatable 18 miles away at Cloughey Bay.


Thankfully by the time they arrived on scene a local coastguard unit had already attended and brought the three children to safety on shore.

Portaferry RNLI was called out for a second time at 4.10pm to rescue a number of people on board a speedboat that had lost power in Strangford Lough just off Killyleagh.


The crew arrived at the scene at 4.15pm, by which time the 15ft speedboat had already been towed in and was moored at the pontoons at Killyleagh Yacht Club in Strangford Lough.

On both occasions the weather was fine with good visibility and calm seas.
 

Yesterday (7 July) the volunteer crew launched for the third time to assist an injured woman on Salt Island in Strangford Lough.

The crew arrived at the island at 10.10am and assessed the situation before transporting two paramedics from Killyleagh to the injured woman, who was subsequently airlifted by Irish Coast Guard helicopter to Musgrave Park Hospital in Belfast for treatment.


At 11:35am, while returning to the lifeboat station, the crew was alerted once again, this time to go to the aid of two men onboard a five metre Dory that had lost power and was drifting just off Ringhaddy Sound in Strangford Lough.


The crew arrived on the scene at 12.05pm and took the men onboard the lifeboat, towing the powerless boat into Strangford Lough Yacht Club, where the men were then put ashore and their boat tied up.

Elsewhere in Northern Ireland, Newcastle RNLI assisted two men after their motor cruiser ran aground off the Co Down coast last Thursday (4 July).

The volunteer crew launched their inshore lifeboat at 2.20pm following a report from Belfast Coastguard that a small vessel had ran aground off Dundrum Bar with two people on board.

Weather conditions at the time were described as blowing south westerly four to five winds with moderate to choppy seas. There was good visibility.



The lifeboat, helmed by Nathan Leneghan and with crew members Declan Barry and Charles McClelland on board, arrived on scene at 2.30pm, where they observed that one of the men had made it to shore while the other was still on the 5m boat.


Speaking following the call-out, Newcastle RNLI deputy launching authority Joe McClelland said: "Thankfully, no one was in immediate danger and we were happy to bring the vessel and the man who was still on board safely to shore."

#RNLI - Skerries RNLI rescued a group of teenagers who got into difficulty while kayaking on Sunday evening (30 June).

The volunteer crew launched their inshore lifeboat shortly after 6pm to reports of a group of kayakers on Colt Island who were unable to return to shore due to the deteriorating weather conditions.


Skerries RNLI lifeboat operations manager Niall McGrotty paged the crew after receiving information from a retired crew member that there was a group of kayakers stranded on Colt Island.

The lifeboat was helmed by Joe May and had crew members Philip Ferguson, David Knight and Adam Scott on board. Weather conditions at the time were a force five to six northerly wind and choppy seas.

Arriving on scene three minutes after launching, the lifeboat found 11 teenage boys with five kayaks sheltering on Colt Island, as they were unable to return to shore against the increasing wind and waves.



All 11 boys were taken on board the lifeboat and the five kayaks were taken in tow. The lifeboat towed the kayaks back to the slipway at the station where the volunteer shore crew recovered them. The lifeboat then brought the teenagers safely back to the harbour.

Speaking after the call-out, Skerries RNLI helm Joe May said: "The boys did the right thing in staying together, staying on the island and raising the alarm. If they had tried to make it back to shore we could have been dealing with a much more serious situation.

"Our volunteer crew are always ready to respond to any emergency and we were happy to bring everyone safely home."

#RNLI - Skerries RNLI launched shortly before 7pm yesterday evening (Thursday 27 June) to assist an 11m yacht with one person on board that had run aground north of Rush Harbour.

The Dublin branch of the Irish Coast Guard requested Skerries RNLI to launch after two members of the public, who had been out kayaking, reported that the yacht was in difficulty.



Weather conditions at the time were a force one to two wind with calm seas.

The lifeboat, helmed by Willie Boylan with crew members Conor Walsh, Karl Duff and Peter Kennedy on board, was on scene in less than 10 minutes. However, by that time the yacht was completely aground above the tide line.



Two volunteer crew members were put ashore to assess the casualty vessel. There was only one person on board and he was not in any immediate danger. There also appeared to be no significant damage to the hull of the boat.

The crew members laid out an anchor from the vessel to ensure that it did not drift onto the nearby rocks when it began to float again. Irish Coast Guard helicopter Rescue 116 was also on scene briefly to ensure that no assistance was required.



With the tide still falling, the decision was taken for the lifeboat to return later after the tide had turned to ensure that the yacht floated safely and to assist in helping it safely back to a harbour.

At 10.20pm the volunteer crew launched the lifeboat again to attend to the yacht, this time with Conor Walsh at the helm and Karl Duff, Eoin Grimes and Emma Wilson as crew, bringing a salvage pump with them.

One of the crew was put ashore to check on the casualty again and to secure a tow line to the boat. As the tide rose, the lifeboat kept the tension on the tow to prevent the yacht being pushed further on to the rocks.

At 11.45pm the yacht was refloated and guided back to Skerries Harbour with the lifeboat leading the way to help navigate around the islands safely in the dark.



Speaking after, Skerries RNLI lifeboat operations manager Niall McGrotty said: "There didn’t appear to be much damage and the conditions were calm. However, it was a large boat with a lot of equipment on board, so there were some concerns around whether it would refloat successfully. Thankfully, it did and everyone made it home safe and sound."

#RNLI - Donaghadee RNLI has rescued a man after his boat got into difficulty off the Co Down coast.

1. In good weather conditions, the volunteer crew launched the all-weather lifeboat at 3.07pm yesterday (Wednesday 26 June) to go to the aid of a casualty off Mew Island.

It followed a request by Belfast Coastguard which had received a call from the owner of the 4m boat to say his vessel had broken down and had starter motor problems.

The lifeboat located the boat north of Mew Island, where it was taken safely under tow by the crew and brought to Donaghadee Harbour.

Earlier in the week, a group of young people from the RNLI Storm Force visited the Donaghadee lifeboat station for a guided tour that emphasised the importance of safety on the water.

The children and their parents were given a warm welcome by coxswain Phillip McNamara and members of the station, who explained the work they do when they respond to emergencies - including getting into their lifeboat gear and jackets in a hurry!