RNLI help vessel off Beara peninsula

It was an early rise for one of Cork’s RNLI crews on Sunday when it was asked to help a vessel taking on water.

Castletownbere lifeboat volunteer crew were requested to launch by Valentia Coastguard Marine Coordination Centre at 4.20am to provide assistance to an 20 metre fishing boat south of Blackball Head off the Beara peninsula. It had two people onboard, was taking water and had lost power.

The lifeboat was launched at 4.30am under the command of Coxswain Marney O’Donoghue, mechanic David O’Donovan and crew Dean Hegarty, Joe Cronin and Andrew O’Neill.

When the lifeboat arrived onscene two miles south-west of Blackball Head, another local fishing boat was standing by. Conditions were described as force 7 south-easterly winds and a 4 to 5 metre swell.

At this stage, the boat had lost power and lifeboat crew managed to attach a towline in challenging conditions. The lifeboat slowly proceeded to tow the stricken vessel back to Castletownbere harbour where a local tug assisted with berthing the boat at the pier. The lifeboat was refuelled and ready for service again at 8.20am.

Commenting on the callout Castletownbere RNLI Lifeboat Launching Authority, Brendan O’Neill, said: “Given the poor weather conditions, the crew aboard the fishing boat made the correct decision to call for help immediately and we are glad that everyone is now ashore safe and well.”