Achill Island RNLI volunteers were involved in a 16-hour operation after a 24-metre sailing vessel carrying 25 people made contact with a fish farm off the Mayo coast and began taking on water. The lifeboat was requested to launch at 4.30 am on Wednesday (12 August) following reports that the sailing vessel had made contact with a fish farm about one mile east of Clare Island.
Achill Island RNLI’s all-weather lifeboat launched under Coxswain Dave Curtis, with mechanic Michael Cattigan, navigator Terry Hogarth and crew members Patrick McNamara, Kevin Cattigan and Orlagh Blake-Dillon aboard. The Irish Coast Guard’s Rescue 118 helicopter from Sligo was also tasked to the incident.
When the lifeboat arrived, the sailing vessel was taking on water. It was decided that the safest immediate course of action was to transfer 16 non-essential crew members from the vessel and bring them ashore on nearby Clare Island. The lifeboat crew subsequently returned to the casualty to monitor the situation while efforts were made at the fish farm to bring the water ingress under control.
Once the situation had stabilised, the lifeboat returned to Clare Island, collected the 16 people who had earlier been taken ashore and transported them safely to Achill Island.
The RNLI crew then returned to the scene for a third time and continued monitoring the sailing vessel until it was freed from the fish farm. The lifeboat escorted the vessel safely back to Achill, arriving at approximately 8 pm — almost 16 hours after the volunteers had first been called out.
Safe Return: Achill Island RNLI escorts the 24m sailing vessel towards Achill after a 16-hour operation involving 25 people off the Mayo coast. Photo: Micheal Doogan
“This was a lengthy callout for our volunteers, commencing in the early hours of Wednesday morning and not finishing until late yesterday evening, and they deserve great credit for a job well done,” Curtis said.
He also praised those aboard the sailing vessel, fish farm personnel and members of the Clare Island community who assisted during the incident.
“We would like to commend those on the sailing vessel, those working for the fish farm and everyone else involved yesterday, including the Clare Island nurse and the community centre staff,” he said. “Everyone worked together in challenging circumstances to help bring the crew to safety and to monitor an ongoing situation where a vessel was taking on water and needed to be freed from the farm.”
Curtis said the operation was time-consuming, but the combined efforts of those involved ensured everyone eventually came ashore safely.
