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Displaying items by tag: Courtmacsherry RNLI

A dog that had been reported missing for several hours in West Cork was rescued by the Courtmacsherry RNLI Lifeboat Station on Wednesday afternoon. The station received a call from two people on the shore who had spotted the dog in grave danger of being washed away on a sandbank off Burren Rock in Courtmacsherry Bay. The lifeboat pagers were immediately activated by Lifeboat Operations Manager Brian O'Dwyer.

Within minutes, the Rigid Inflatable Station House Boat was launched with Station Coxswains Ken Cashman and Mark John Gannon on board. The crewmembers responded quickly to the callout and were able to reach the dog, which was struggling in the strong currents. With the assistance of local man Dave Edwards in another small craft, the Lifeboat Crew were able to coax the dog towards the Lifeboat and finally crewman Mark John was able to catch the shocked dog and bring him to the safety of the Lifeboat.

The Lifeboat very quickly returned to the Lifeboat Slipway, where crew members assisted with the safe landing of dog Bonnie on dry land. Shortly after the rescue, the owners of Bonnie arrived as they had been looking for their precious Sheepdog for many hours, as he had been frightened by other dogs in the locality around mid-day. The relieved owners were reunited with Bonnie and were highly praised for the great work done so quickly by the lifeboat crew.

The Courtmacsherry Lifeboat Launch Authority and press officer Vincent O Donovan praised the two concerned ladies on the shore who alerted the authorities immediately when they spotted the dog in difficulty. He also gave credit to the fast response of the Lifeboat Crew, which ensured that Dog Bonnie was reached before being taken out to sea. Vincent added, “it was so great to see the joy on the owner's faces on being reunited with Bonnie and thus a very happy ending for all concerned”.

Published in RNLI Lifeboats
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The Courtmacsherry RNLI All Weather Lifeboat was called out at 12.16pm this afternoon to go to the aid of a 17–foot pleasure boat that got into difficulties off Coolmain, east of the Old Head of Kinsale in West Cork.

The Courtmacsherry Lifeboat under Coxswain Sean O'Farrell and a crew of six launched immediately and reached the stricken causality within 15 minutes. The pleasure boat, with six persons on board had encountered engine difficulties and was blown onshore at the coastline called Nuns Cove.

On scene, the Lifeboat assessed the difficulties with the casualty and two lifeboat crew members Ciaran Hurley and Dean Hennessey used the Trent Lifeboat's X Boat to access the shoreline and secure a tow line to the stricken vessel.

The Lifeboat then proceeded to tow the boat away from the shoreline and subsequently brought them back to the safe haven of Courtmacsherry Harbour.

Conditions at sea today were blustery with Winds in the area blowing force 4/5 but rising from early afternoon.

The Crew on board today's callout were Coxswain Sean O'Farrell and crew members Stuart Russell, Denis Murphy, Mark John Gannon, Dean Hennessy and the father and son combination of Micheal and Ciaran Hurley.

Courtmacsherry RNLI Lifeboat Station LPO Brian O Dwyer commented, " We are pleased that our Lifeboat was again fast away today with our ever ready volunteers always available and that the rescue was carried out with great skill and precision on a dangerous coastline in today's winds".

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Breaking News reports that the Courtmacsherry RNLI Lifeboat towed a yacht to safety yesterday afternoon after it got into difficulties in poor weather.
The lifeboat was called out at 1.15pm to the 37ft yacht, with three people on board, in Clonakilty Bay in West Cork.
The boat was subsequently towed to the Blind Strand in Courtmacsherry Bay and assessed for damage. No injuries have been reported.

Breaking News reports that the Courtmacsherry RNLI Lifeboat towed a yacht to safety yesterday afternoon after it got into difficulties in poor weather.

The lifeboat was called out at 1.15pm to the 37ft yacht, with three people on board, in Clonakilty Bay in West Cork. 

The boat was subsequently towed to the Blind Strand in Courtmacsherry Bay and assessed for damage. No injuries have been reported.

Published in RNLI Lifeboats

Marine Institute Research Vessel Tom Crean

Ireland’s new marine research vessel will be named the RV Tom Crean after the renowned County Kerry seaman and explorer who undertook three major groundbreaking expeditions to the Antarctic in the early years of the 20th Century which sought to increase scientific knowledge and to explore unreached areas of the world, at that time.

Ireland's new multi-purpose marine research vessel RV Tom Crean, was delivered in July 2022 and will be used by the Marine Institute and other State agencies and universities to undertake fisheries research, oceanographic and environmental research, seabed mapping surveys; as well as maintaining and deploying weather buoys, observational infrastructure and Remotely Operated Vehicles.

The RV Tom Crean will also enable the Marine Institute to continue to lead and support high-quality scientific surveys that contribute to Ireland's position as a leader in marine science. The research vessel is a modern, multipurpose, silent vessel (designed to meet the stringent criteria of the ICES 209 noise standard for fisheries research), capable of operating in the Irish Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). The Tom Crean is able to go to sea for at least 21 days at a time and is designed to operate in harsh sea conditions.

RV Tom Crean Specification Overview

  • Length Overall: 52.8 m
  • Beam 14m
  • Draft 5.2M 

Power

  • Main Propulsion Motor 2000 kw
  • Bow Thruster 780 kw
  • Tunnel thruster 400 kw

Other

  • Endurance  21 Days
  • Range of 8,000 nautical miles
  • DP1 Dynamic Positioning
  • Capacity for 3 x 20ft Containers

Irish Marine Research activities

The new state-of-the-art multi-purpose marine research vessel will carry out a wide range of marine research activities, including vital fisheries, climate change-related research, seabed mapping and oceanography.

The new 52.8-metre modern research vessel, which will replace the 31-metre RV Celtic Voyager, has been commissioned with funding provided by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine approved by the Government of Ireland.

According to Aodhán FitzGerald, Research Vessel Manager of the MI, the RV Tom Crean will feature an articulated boom crane aft (6t@ 10m, 3T@ 15m), located on the aft-gantry. This will be largely used for loading science equipment and net and equipment handling offshore.

Mounted at the stern is a 10T A-frame aft which can articulate through 170 degrees which are for deploying and recovering large science equipment such as a remotely operated vehicle (ROV’s), towed sleds and for fishing operations.

In addition the fitting of an 8 Ton starboard side T Frame for deploying grabs and corers to 4000m which is the same depth applicable to when the vessel is heaving but is compensated by a CTD system consisting of a winch and frame during such operations.

The vessel will have the regulation MOB boat on a dedicated davit and the facility to carry a 6.5m Rigid Inflatable tender on the port side.

Also at the aft deck is where the 'Holland 1' Work class ROV and the University of Limericks 'Etain' sub-Atlantic ROV will be positioned. In addition up to 3 x 20’ (TEU) containers can be carried.

The newbuild has been engineered to endure increasing harsher conditions and the punishing weather systems encountered in the North-East Atlantic where deployments of RV Tom Crean on surveys spent up to 21 days duration.

In addition, RV Tom Crean will be able to operate in an ultra silent-mode, which is crucial to meet the stringent criteria of the ICES 209 noise standard for fisheries research purposes.

The classification of the newbuild as been appointed to Lloyds and below is a list of the main capabilities and duties to be tasked by RV Tom Crean:

  • Oceanographic surveys, incl. CTD water sampling
  • Fishery research operations
  • Acoustic research operations
  • Environmental research and sampling operation incl. coring
  • ROV and AUV/ASV Surveys
  • Buoy/Mooring operations