#Coastguard - Irish Coast Guard director Chris Reynolds has been seconded to Somalia as part of an EU maritime security mission in the Horn of Africa.

Reynolds was granted special leave to take the position with EUCAP Nestor based in the Kenyan capital Nairobi from on 19 July – the first time that the Irish Coast Guard has been involved in an overseas mission.

The role involves assisting local authorities with setting up their own coastguard service in a region that's been beleaguered by maritime piracy in recent years.

Ireland's coastguard chief is responsible for all operations and field offices of the EUCAP Nestor mission between Mogadishu, Puntland and Somaliland, as well as a training base in Djibouti.

Reynolds will return to his Irish Coast Guard post after his secondment, which the Department of Transport says will last around two years "subject to how the mission evolves".

Speaking of his appointment, Reynolds said: "I believe this is a recognition, on an international level, that we in the IrCG, both volunteer and professional, do a good job and that we have gained the respect and trust of all the communities we serve and all the partners we work with.”

#Coastguard - The Irish Coast Guard welcomed the successful rescue last night (Tuesday 26 July) of a lone yachtsman found on his overturned yacht 20 miles off the Co Wexford coast.

The yachtsman triggered his personal locator beacon (PLB) around 8pm last night, which alerted his position to the Marine Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) in Dublin.

Waterford's coastguard helicopter Rescue 117 was immediately tasked to the location.

The lone yachtsman was spotted sitting on the hull of his upturned vessel and was subsequently winched to safety and transferred to Waterford Regional Hospital.

A coastguard spokesperson highlighted the importance of observing two important safety rules when going to sea: stay afloat if you do fall in the water, and have a means to communicate or raise the alarm.

#Coastguard - Shannon's Irish Coast Guard helicopter was launched yesterday afternoon (Tuesday 14 June) to evacuate an injured crewmember from an Irish fishing vessel off the Kerry coast.

Top cover was provided by a second coastguard helicopter as Rescue 115 flew to the boat 120 miles west of the Blasket Islands to recover the injured party for treatment.

In another incident, coastguard volunteers recovered the body of a man from the base of the Cliffs of Moher last night, as BreakingNews.ie reports.

Units from Doolin and Kilkee responded when the alarm was raised around 5pm yesterday, eventually lifting the body to the cliff top four hours later. Gardaí are investigating.

#Coastguard - The Canadian helicopter services giant contracted to provide the Irish Coast Guard's search and rescue service has filed for bankruptcy protection in Texas.

According to Independent.ie, CHC Group has blamed the worldwide drop in oil prices as the cause of "decreased customer demand" in its filing for Chapter 11 protection.

However, the Irish subsidiary contracted to provide Ireland's coastguard helicopter service till at least 2022 will not be affected by the move.

Only weeks ago CHC Ireland announced an eight-fold increase in profits in 2015 over the previous year.

#Rescue - A lobster fisherman was rescued after getting tangled in his vessel's ropes when it overturned off the Donegal coast on Saturday evening (9 April).

As TheJournal.ie reports, the rescue of the solo fisherman proved difficult for local coastguard and lifeboat teams due to the heavy swell at Inishinny, off Arranmore Island.

That's when the Sligo-based Irish Coast Guard helicopter Rescue 118 came in to free the man from his vessel and winch him to safety.

Rescue 118 was later called out to rescue a number of surfers in difficulty of the Leitrim coast, as previously reported on Afloat.ie.

#Coastguard - Profits at the contractor providing Ireland's coastguard helicopter service are nearly eight times greater than in 2014, as the Irish Independent reports.

CHC Ireland, a subsidiary of the Canadian helicopter services giant, says its turnover jumped by 24% to €52 million in the tax year ending April 2015, for a profit of €3.4 million.

The firm's latest accounts filed at the Companies Office also reveal that the Irish Coast Guard's fleet of four Sikorsky S92 long-range search and rescue helicopters undertook 3,331 missions in the 12 months ending April 2015, 138 more than the previous year -- setting up for what was the service's busiest year since 1991.

Four years ago the coastguard took delivery of its first purpose-built and fitted Sikorsky S-92 from CHC under a 10-year, €500 million contract that runs till 2022.

The Irish Independent has more on the story HERE.

#Coastguard - Shannon's Irish Coast Guard helicopter flew to the rescue of a man who survived a 21-metre fall off a sea cliff in West Cork yesterday morning (Monday 7 March).

According to the Irish Examiner, Rescue 115 was tasked along with the Toe Head coastguard unit to attend to the man who was spotted at the base of the steep cliffs at Sandy Cove near Castletownshend.

Both were on scene within 20 minutes of the arrival of the ambulance service, who treated the casualty before he could be safely winched on board the helicopter for transport to Cork University Hospital, receiving further treatment for hypothermia.

It's thought that conditions on the popular cliff path above were rendered unstable after recent heavy rains.

In other coastguard rescue news, Sligo's Rescue 118 was involved in the medevac of an ill crewman from a fishing boat west of Hags Head in Co Clare.

The foreign national, aged 30, complained of abdominal pains before he was flown from the trawler Arkh Angel to University Hospital Galway for treatment, as Galway Bay FM reports.

#Coastguard - Plans have been lodged for a new coastguard station in Westport, as the Connacht Telegraph reports.

Proposed for a site on Mayo County Council land next to the old boat house on Westport Harbour, the station would comprise a three-storey building with a boathouse and a sloping grass bank, plus a new access road.

Minister of State Michael Ring welcomed the "state-of-the-art project" for the coastguard unit established in 2003 as one that is "badly needed in Westport" as "a vital lifesaving facility".

The news comes as the Irish Coast Guard nationally marked 2015 as its busiest year since 1991.

The Connacht Telegraph has more on the story HERE.

#RNLI - Skerries RNLI responded to their first callout of 2016 yesterday morning (Saturday 2 January) as they launched to reports of swimmer in difficulty off Rush.

Pagers sounded shortly before 10am after Dublin Coast Guard received reports that a man swimming at the North Beach was having difficulty getting back to shore.

Skerries RNLI volunteers launched the lifeboat with Conor Walsh at the helm and crew Paddy Dillon, Emma Wilson and Steven Johnston.

The Skerries Coast Guard unit and the Irish Coast Guard helicopter Rescue 116 were also tasked. At the time there was a moderate sea swell and a Force 4 easterly wind.

While the lifeboat was en route to Rush, a local person launched their sea kayak to provide assistance to the man and managed to help him to the beach.

Skerries Coast Guard assessed the casualty and provided first aid before he was transferred by helicopter to hospital. The lifeboat was stood down and returned to base.

Speaking after the callout, Skerries RNLI lifeboat press officer Gerry Canning said: "We have had a lot of wind, rain and large seas lately. So we would advise everyone to exercise caution in or around the water.

"Even if you know an area well, the currents are likely to be quite different at the moment."

#Coastguard - The Irish Coast Guard has had its busiest year since 1991, as RTÉ News reports.

As of yesterday (Wednesday 30 December), coastguard teams nationwide had completed a combined total of 2,657 missions – an increase of 1% on 2014 driven by increased aquatic tourism, medevacs and air ambulances services, and the recent severe weather.

The biggest increase was seen among those getting into difficulty on the shoreline, 2015's total of 306 up 10% on the previous year.

In addition, the coastguard was involved in a greater number of searches for missing persons in remote areas assisting gardaí.

As previously reported on Afloat.ie, the Irish Coast Guard's helicopter network last week hit the 1,000-mission landmark for the first time since its services began 25 years ago.

RTÉ News has more on the story HERE.