Local lifeboat services went to the aid of the 46ft boat off the coast of Ireland
A passenger pleasure boat off
the coast of Ireland had to be rescued on Friday after it struggled with
weather conditions and lost power.
The 46ft
vessel encountered problems amid strong winds of force six to seven.
The casualty vessel
had become propped by ropes and had lost power near the shoreline.
RNLI lifeboat crews
attended the boat off Kinsale Harbour by Charles Fort, which had a total of 43
passengers on board.
Once there, rescue
crews noted that the vessel had dropped its anchor and a local dive rib had
given the passenger boat a line.
With the help of the
local vessel, the lifeboats managed to tow the passenger boat back to Kinsale.
An RNLI crew member
stayed onboard the stricken vessel until it was berthed on the outside of Kinsale
yacht club and all the passengers got off safely.
Kinsale RNLI helmsman
Nick Searls said: “The master on board the pleasure craft deserves credit for
his calm handling of the situation, ensuring all passengers were equipped with
lifejackets and made aware of emergency procedures.
“This reinforces the
point that any vessel going to sea should have proper safety equipment and know
how to react if they get into trouble. The volunteer crews from the RNLI,
assisted by Kinsale harbour master Cpt Phil Devitt and local dive boat Ocean
Addicts, were able to return all 41 passengers and two crew on board to safety.”
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