Displaying items by tag: Tawin Island

24th July 2017

MCIB Calls For Update On Best Practice For Lifejackets

Patsy Kelly’s lobster boat Loch Corrib II pictured at Ballinacourty pier a month after the incident

#MCIB - Marine investigators have recommended that fishermen be reminded of best practice for wearing PFDs while on the water.

That’s the main recommendation from the Marine Casualty Investigation Board’s (MCIB) report on an incident in Galway Bay last September that took the life of Patsy Kelly.

As previously reported on Afloat.ie, the body of the local lobsterman was recovered off Salthill hours after his boat was found empty at Tawin Island on 7 September 2016.

Kelly had set out earlier that morning at 6am from Ballinacourty on his boat Loch Corrib II to retrieve a string of lobster pots.

The boat was noticed stationary in the water around lunchtime by another vessel fishing in the area, which approached to find it unmanned with the engine running.

It’s believed that Kelly suffered some sort of collapse while attempting to untangle his string of pots, which caused him to enter the water.

Kelly’s body was recovered more than four nautical miles from his vessel after 6.30pm that evening.

He was found to be wearing his PFD but underneath an oilskin smock, which would have meant no access to the switch for the lifejacket’s locator beacon.

The MCIB report also found that the PFD, while it inflated, was five months overdue for a service.

The full report into the Loch Corrib II incident is available to download below.

Published in MCIB

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Offshore wind

ESB know the importance of offshore wind in tackling climate change and delivering net zero. Ireland has a unique capability given its prime location to take advantage of the potential of offshore wind. ESB are working hard to develop offshore wind projects for the benefit of everyone across society in Ireland and the UK. This includes ongoing engagement with marine users and local communities so ESB can deliver these significant projects.

Offshore wind will play a major role globally in our fight against climate change. It will help to replace energy generated by burning fossil fuels with that from a clean, safe and secure renewable energy source. Ireland’s geographic location on the exposed edge of the Atlantic presents us with a significant opportunity to generate electricity from wind – both offshore and onshore.

Power from onshore wind farms currently provide over one-third of Ireland’s electricity needs. But, whilst its marine area is many times the size of its landmass, Ireland’s offshore wind potential is only starting to be realised. ESB have a coastline stretching over 3,000km but only one operational offshore wind farm – Arklow Bank, with a capacity of 25 MW. In contrast, Belgium’s coastline is only 63km long, but it has already developed more than 2,000 MW of offshore wind. In Great Britain, with a coastline four times the length of ours, offshore wind generation now equates to over 440 Arklow Banks, with an installed capacity of 11,0000 MW as of late 2021.

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