Portaferry RNLI were paged by Belfast Coastguard just after midnight on Friday night (13 September) to assist two people onboard a fishing vessel which had run aground close to the entrance of Ardglass Harbour on Northern Ireland’s east coast.
The station’s inshore lifeboat Blue Peter V was quickly launched with helm Paul Mageean and crew members Chris Adair, Ros Watret and Paddy Lowry onboard. Conditions at the time had a strong Force 6, 24-knot wind and a rough sea state.
On arriving at Ardglass Harbour, the 46ft fishing vessel was observed to be high aground and listing, and it was decided to bring the two crew members to safety.
On assessing the vessel’s position, the crew noted there was only one safe angle of approach but that it would leave a considerable height difference between the casualty vessel and the lifeboat.
Taking the situation and the weather conditions and sea state at the time into account, it was decided to request the assistance of a coastguard helicopter.
A short time later, both fishing crew members were winched onboard a HM Coastguard helicopter from Wales and transferred to a nearby landing site where they were met by members of Newcastle Coastguard team.
Portaferry RNLI’s lifeboat departed the scene shortly after 2am and was recovered back to the boathouse by members of the shore crew before 3am on Saturday morning.
Speaking after the call-out, Portaferry RNLI helm Paul Mageean said: “The vessel’s crew did the right thing in calling for help.
“The poor weather conditions and the darkness of the night made for a challenging situation but we train for scenarios like this which always help us to assess and decide upon the best option to bring those onboard to safety. We would like to thank our colleagues from the coastguard who on arrival, winched the casualties and brought them ashore.
“Everyone who responded to the pagers in Portaferry tonight are volunteers who give their time to train for their roles and respond to call-outs ensuring they have the knowledge and skills to complete challenging tasks with professionalism and without delay.
“Our crew on the lifeboat tonight did their job and there were also several people waiting for us in the station — these shore crew also volunteer their time willingly to make these launches happen safely.
“We would ask everyone to be mindful of the weather and tide times before venturing out on the water. Always carry a means of calling for help and wear a suitable floatation device for your activity. If you get into difficulty or see someone else in trouble, call 999 immediately and ask for the coastguard.”
