#RNLI - Kilkeel RNLI helped bring a fisherman to safety yesterday evening (Tuesday 17 May) after he was injured while fishing for prawns off the Co Down coast.
The volunteer lifeboat crew was alerted at 4.50pm and requested by Belfast Coastguard to go to the aid of an injured man on a 68ft fishing trawler in Dundalk Bay.
The inshore lifeboat, helmed by Alan Henning and with three crew members onboard, launched within minutes and made its way to the scene some six nautical miles from the lifeboat station.
Weather conditions at the time were described as wet with a lot of rain and a 1.5m swell.
Once on scene, lifeboat crew member Andrew McConnell was transferred from the lifeboat on to the fishing vessel, where he assessed the casualty and ensured he was wearing a sea survival suit before being moved from the trawler.
The injured man was made comfortable before he was strapped and lowered down into the lifeboat where he was then transported back to Kilkeel and handed over into the care of a waiting ambulance.
Speaking following the callout, Kilkeel RNLI lifeboat operations manager John Fisher said: "There wasn’t enough water in the harbour yesterday afternoon to allow the fishing trawler make its way into Kilkeel so we were happy to assist.
"We would like to wish the injured man a full and speedy recovery from his ordeal."