#COASTGUARD - An MLA for East Londonderry has sought the support of Northern Ireland's Minister of State to protect the Irish Coast Guard station at Malin Head from closure.

Inishowen News reports that the SDLP's John Dallat MLA contacted Mike Penning regarding the threat looming over the Donegal coastguard station, which is the most northerly on the island of Ireland.

Dallat said: “When Mike Penning was Minister for Transport in Westminster he was instrumental in keeping the coastguard station at Bangor, Co Down, open, and he made his judgement on the basis that Bangor had a special working relationship with Malin Head which was critical to ensuring there was a complete coverage of all areas."

“It would be ironic now if Malin Head, which saved Bangor, was itself to be victim of closure. That must not happen and I believe Mr Penning’s support is an important element in this campaign which must not fail."

As reported recently on Afloat.ie, coastal communities in both Donegal and Kerry have been protesting plans to close the stations at Malin Head and Valentia in the wake of a 'value for money' report commissioned by the Republic's Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar.

Coastguard chiefs have criticised the studies conducted by consultants Fisher Associates into the IRCG and the Marine Survey Office.

Inishowen News has more on the story HERE.

#LIFEBOATS - Two teens were rescued from rocks off north Co Derry on Wednesday afternoon, the Belfast Telegraph reports.

The 13-year-old boys were stranded by the incoming tide in the East Promenade area of Portstewart.

PSNI officers called to the scene around 4.30pm managed to persuade one of the boys to cross to the shore, but the coastguard was tasked to lift the other boy from the rocks by the RNLI, according to UTV News.

Police inspector Mick Wood said that the incident "serves as a reminder to us that tides are extremely unpredictable".

#DOOLIN PIER - The Irish Times reports that surfers will be at loggerheads with Clare County Council this week over controversial plans to redevelop Doolin Pier.

The €8 million plans for the Clare coastal village have been delayed for some time, and have already cost the council more than €250,000.

As previously reported on Afloat.ie, the development was backed unanimously by Clare councillors in March 2011 after revisions made following concerns from local surfers about its impact on popular waves in the area.

However, the Irish Surfing Association (ISA) maintained that even that revised plan would result in the elimination of the waves at Doolin Point and Crab Island - the latter described as Ireland's answer to the Pipeline in Hawaii.

The proposed new pier would serve the 70,000 passengers that use the ferry service between Doolin and the Aran Islands. The development is also supported by the Doolin unit of the Irish Coast Guard, which hopes to get a new coastguard station as part of development plans for the area.

#coastguard – Two fishermen have been rescued after the fishing vessel Snowdonia sank approximately 12 miles east of Kilkeel Harbour on the County Down coast.

Belfast Coastguard received a call from the fishing vessel Tribute reporting that they had recovered two fishermen from the water. The RNLI lifeboat from Kilkeel and the Irish Coast Guard Search and Rescue helicopter were sent to the scene. The crew of Kilkeel Inshore Lifeboat were quickly on scene and provided first aid until the arrival of the Irish Helicopter.

The two crew were airlifted to Daisy Hill Hospital, Newry where they are currently being assessed.

Gary Young, Watch Manager Belfast Coastguard, said: "This incident has again proved the importance of wearing a lifejacket and having it maintained to a high standard.

"I would like to pass on my thanks to the professionalism of the lifeboat and helicopter crews."

Additional reporting from RNLI:

The volunteer lifeboat crew with Kilkeel RNLI were today involved with a local fishing vessel and the Irish Coast Guard helicopter from Dublin in the rescue of two fishermen after the boat they were in sank off the Down coast.  The men were ten miles from Kilkeel when the boat started to take in water and the alarm was raised.

Kilkeel RNLI received the call for assistance at 10.30am this morning (Tuesday 23 October 2012) and immediately launched and made their way to the scene.  When the lifeboat crew arrived the vessel had sank and the two men had been taken onboard another fishing vessel, which was in the vicinity and able to respond to the callout.  The fishermen had been in the water for a few minutes before they were pulled to safety and were feeling the effects of the freezing cold water.

A lifeboat crewmember from Kilkeel RNLI was transferred onto the vessel where they administered first aid and oxygen to the freezing men.  On the arrival of the Dublin Coast Guard helicopter the two men were airlifted onboard and taken to Daisy Hill Hospital in Newry.

Commenting on the callout Roy Teggerty, Kilkeel RNLI Lifeboat Operations Manager said, "The two fishermen were extremely lucky.  Thanks to the quick action of the passing fishing vessel along with the Kilkeel RNLI lifeboat and Dublin Coast Guard the men were recovered from the water very quickly and received first aid.  I wish the men a full recovery from their ordeal.

#COASTGUARD - The Irish Examiner reports today that the Irish Coast Guard has severely criticised the first draft of the 'value for money' report on the coastguard service commissioned by Transport Minister Leo Varadkar.

Senior IRCG management berated the work of the consultants Fisher Associates who were commissioned to undertake the studies into the coastguard and Marine Survey Office.

In their observation of the report's first draft, they cite "uninformed or poor analysis; lack of dialogue on matters surfaced; lack of understanding of where the IRCG has competency or control on particular matters and where they are departmental competencies; laziness in fact finding; ignorance of how coast guards function and failure to recognise command and control issues."

They also slated "sloppiness" in the report's incorrect spelling of the service as the 'Irish Coastguard', arguing that it "reflects very, very poorly on Fisher's ability or competence in these areas".

The news comes ahead of Irish Coast Guard director Chris Reynolds' appearance before the Oireachtas Transport Committee tomorrow (Wednesday 24 October) to discuss the future of the national network of coastguard stations.

Fianna Fáil Senator Mark Daly, who worked to bring Reynolds before the committee, claims that the coastguard head's agenda is to close the stations at Valentia and Malin Head while retaining the Dublin station and a sub-base in the Transport Minister's constituency.

Elsewhere in the Irish Examiner, Dan Buckley comments on the local campaigns to save the "vital" bases at Valentia and Malin Head.

As previously reported on Afloat.ie, coastal communities in Kerry have joined with their counterparts in Donegal to protest mooted plans to close their coastguard radio stations, despite the wealth of local expertise and hundreds of thousands of euro worth of recent investment.

#COASTGUARD - The Irish Coast Guard has urged any sailors or aviators using emergency locator transmitters (ELTs) to take care with their use and storage after an incident last week, The Irish Times reports.

A major search and rescue operation was mounted after a signal from an aircraft emergency beacon was detected by the Valentia coastguard station and Shannon air traffic control on Wednesday night.

Two rescue helicopters and numerous ground crews were involved in the search for what was thought to be a crashed small aircraft before the beacon was found at the rear of a property on Thursday afternoon.

A spokesperson for the Irish Coast Guard said: “We would ask anyone who who has one of these devices to ensure it is properly stored and not allowed to decay.

"If the battery in one of these units dies or the device is allowed to short-circuit because of dampness, the ELT will activate."

#COASTGUARD - Howth Coast Guard will be one of the first search and rescue teams to avail of the Irish Coast Guard's new side scan sonar, it has emerged.

The specialised underwater sonar is available for 24/7 response on rivers, lakes, harbours and at sea.

The device is towed under the water and feeds a live scan of the area below it to a laptop operator on the surface.

The system can detect objects of all sizes and can be used to assist with the search of a missing person, for example, to quickly identify or rule out possible search areas before sending in Garda dive teams.

Howth Coast Guard says its menders have been trained up in the operations of the sonar over the last few months, and will be available to respond by request through the National Maritime Operations Centre (NMOC).

#RESCUE - An unconfirmed number of men from Ireland were among 22 people rescued from a sinking passenger boat in San Francisco Bay in the early hours of this morning.

KGO-TV News reports that the hull of The Neptune was punctured by a rock off Alcatraz around 9.15pm last night local time (5.15am this morning Irish time) and quickly began taking on water.

Matthew Rice was celebrating his bachelor party on the boat with 17 friends at the time - a number of whom has travelled from as far as Ireland - when "all of a sudden it was like boom, just the a big jolt and the next thing we knew the [US] Coast Guard boat came in and got us off," he recalls.

Crew member Rachel Smith, one of four crew on board the party boat, explained how the vessel had veered slightly off course due to a navigation error and hit an area known as 'Little Alcatraz', which resulted in two square-foot holes on either side of the rear hull.

All on board were taken to safety by the coastguard, and attempts were being made to bail the water out of the boat to allow its towing back to San Francisco overnight.

#COASTGUARD - Last week saw two rapid responses by volunteers with the Howth Coast Guard in separate incidents on the peninsula.

On Saturday 22 September a walker on the Howth Head cliff path who suffered an ankle injury was evacuated for treatment.

The walker was with a friend on the path near Red Rock when the accident occurred, rendering her unable to walk. The friend called emergency services who dispatched the on-duty crew at the local coastguard station.

The team arrived quickly on scene and prepared the casualty for evacuation across farmland to the nearest location accessible by road, where they were met by paramedics.

Howth Coast Guard said that as the coastguard service's 999 centre was contacted quickly, a speedy evacuation was carried out before temperatures dropped significantly.

Later in the week, on Thursday 27 September, the Howth Coast Guard joined the Howth RNLI lifeboat and the Irish Coast Guard's Rescue 116 helicopter in responding to a Garda request for assistance with a faller on the cliffs of Howth.

The casualty was reportedly airlifted to Tallaght Hospital by helicopter. There is no word yet as to the faller's condition.

#coastguard – Exercise Diamond, the largest maritime exercise ever held in Northern Ireland, has taken place today within Belfast Lough. The exercise has tested the response by those involved in maritime search, rescue and recovery to a major maritime incident.

The exercise began with the following scenario:

There had been a 'collision', caused by an electrical fault, between the passenger vessel, 'MV Lough Explorer' which had 120 people on board and a commercial roll on roll off ferry, which had 50 passengers and 23 crew on board. The 'collision' had caused damage to the bow of the          Lough Explorer and the hull of the ferry. The Lough Explorer was sinking rapidly and the master of the ship had broadcast a mayday message and given the order to abandon the vessel.

The master of the ferry reported that he could see liferafts from the Lough Explorer and people in the water. His own vessel had begun to list and three trailers on the deck had rolled over, trapping two people. Another trailer had caught fire. The master had requested help with fire fighting, to free the trapped people and to evacuate 50 people from the vessel. A major incident had been declared.

As part of the live exercise, Belfast Coastguard coordinated an air and sea search and rescue operation involving the following:

Bangor RNLI inshore lifeboat

Donaghadee RNLI all weather lifeboat

Larne RNLI all weather lifeboat

Portpatrick RNLI all weather lifeboat

Belfast Harbour Pilot Boat

Rescue helicopter ICN (Irish Coastguard Sikorsky S92N – Dublin)

Rescue helicopter 177 (Royal Navy Sea King – Prestwick)

The lifeboats searched for the 100 people (simulated by numbered oranges and dummies) who were in the water following the sinking of the Lough Explorer. Twenty people (played by RNLI crew and MOD personnel) were in liferafts and were recovered from the water by the lifeboats. By the end of the exercise 115 'people' (91 oranges, four dummies and all of the personnel) had been landed ashore at Bangor. Coastguard rescue officers, Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) and ambulance personnel then brought them ashore before they were transported to a casualty reception centre, which was set up at Bangor Leisure Centre by North Down Borough Council, Southeastern Health Trust and PSNI.

The rescue helicopters evacuated 30 people from the ship and airlifted them to a landing site at Newtownards airfield. They were met there by the Coastguard Rescue Officers, who took them to the Casualty Reception Centre which had been set up at Londonderry Park by Ards Borough Council, Southeastern Health Trust and PSNI. The helicopters also airlifted specialist rescue teams from the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service and Northern Ireland Ambulance Service to the ferry, to assist with the emergency onboard.

Sue Todd, The Maritime and Coastguard Agency's Coastal Safety Manager for Scotland and Northern Ireland says:

"Today we have shown that Northern Ireland has all of the resources and planning in place to respond, should a major maritime incident arise. Of course, there will be lessons learned and all of the agencies involved will discuss how we can improve. 365 people have taken part in Exercise Diamond today and I would like to thank them all for their willingness and enthusiasm in playing their roles. I would also like to thank Stena Line for providing the ferry and Survitec for providing vital specialist equipment"

Diane Poole, Head of PR and Communications at Stena Line said: "Stena Line works hard on a daily basis to maintain its excellent safety record.  Comprehensive exercises such as Exercise Diamond provide invaluable opportunities for us to put our major incident procedures and planning into operation to ensure that they are more than capable of coping with a major incident.  In addition, the exercise will also give us a great opportunity to deploy our procedures in consort with a range of emergency and regulatory organisations.  This will help all parties in the future in the unlikely event of an emergency of this nature occurring."

Jennifer Williams of Survitec Group said: "The Survitec Group is proud to be part of such an important maritime exercise.  We hope that moving forward this will strengthen the emergency search, rescue and recovery procedures we already have in place in Northern Ireland."