In an early morning sea rescue, volunteers from the Clogherhead RNLI were called upon to come to the aid of a drifting 42 ft leisure craft. The Coast Guard requested assistance on Friday, 13 October, after the vessel experienced fuel problems and engine failure.
At 06.30, the Clogherhead volunteer lifeboat crew launched their all-weather Shannon class lifeboat under the leadership of Coxswain Declan Clinton, with four crew members onboard. The lifeboat reached the scene of the drifting boat 19 nautical miles east of Clogherhead, where they found two crew members on board, both unharmed and wearing life jackets.
After assessing the situation, the RNLI crew decided to establish a towline and were able to successfully tow the vessel back to the nearest safe port at Port Oriel, Clogherhead. The lifeboat arrived in Port Oriel at 10.15, with the crew of the drifting vessel safely ashore.
Speaking about the call out, Coxswain Declan Clinton said, "The crew on board this drifting vessel did the right thing in contacting the Coast Guard on their VHF radio when their vessel began to drift. Most importantly, they were both wearing life jackets".