Ireland’s leading maritime newspaper covering the Coastal, Fishing and Maritime Communities
MARINE TIMES NEWS November 9th:
Valentia RNLI Spend 16 Hours at Sea Following Mayday to Help Crew of 33m Fishing Trawler On Fire
Valentia RNLI’s volunteers spent 16 hours at sea on Wednesday (7 November) after they responded to a Mayday call to rescue the 11 crew of a 33m fishing trawler that went on fire. It was the second call out in 24 hours for the station’s crew who earlier on Tuesday rescued a paddleboarder who got into difficulty.
The crew were first requested by the Irish Coast Guard to launch their all-weather lifeboat at 1.29pm on Tuesday (5 November) following a report of a paddleboarder drifting north of Cuas Crom Harbour. The alarm was raised by walkers who spotted the casualty drifting.
Weather conditions at the time were fair with a force five wind and 1.5m swell.
The lifeboat launched under Coxswain Richard Quigley and with five crew onboard and made its way to the scene where on arrival they located the casualty who was wearing a wetsuit but was very cold. The crew proceeded to bring the casualty onboard the lifeboat where they carried out an assessment and administered casualty care as they made their way back to Cahirciveen marina. The paddleboarder was then passed into the care of Iveragh Coast Guard and the National Ambulance Service.
Later in the early hours of Wednesday morning, the crew were requested once again by the Irish Coast Guard, and this time launched the lifeboat at 1.56am following a Mayday call from the crew of a Spanish fishing vessel who had stated a fire onboard 40 miles northwest of Valentia. The Irish Coast Guard helicopter, Rescue 115 from Shannon was also tasked and vessels that were in the area at the time also responded.
The lifeboat launched under Coxswain Richard Quigley, made its way to the scene, a journey that took an hour and 45 minutes. Conditions were dark with the early hours of morning. There was moderate to poor visibility, a force 5 southeasterly wind and a 2m swell.
Arriving on scene, the crew assessed the situation and observing the fire onboard, began to work with the trawler’s crew to distinguish the fire. The fire was brought under control but as the vessel was disabled, the lifeboat was requested to standby until the arrival of a tug to carry out a tow. The Irish Navy vessel, the LÉ James Joyce arrived on scene at 1.45pm to relieve the lifeboat of its standing by duties. The lifeboat crew returned to Valentia at approximately 6pm.
Speaking following the call out, Valentia RNLI Coxswain Richard Quigley said: ‘It was a busy couple of days for the crew who were tired but happy to have played their part in two successful rescues. We would like to commend the walkers who spotted the paddleboarder in difficulty on Tuesday and raised the alarm, that is always the right thing to do. And we would like to commend the fishermen for putting out a Mayday when they knew they were in immediate danger in the early hours of Wednesday morning. Our crew are highly trained and skilled, and they prepare regularly for scenarios such as these, but it is not often that two come in quick succession. The call out to the fishing trawler required our volunteers to leave their beds and launch into the darkness of the night and spend almost 16 hours at sea and they deserve great credit for their selfless dedication.
‘We would encourage anyone planning a trip to sea to go prepared ensuring they have lifejackets or a suitable flotation device for their activity and carry a suitable means of communication should they get into difficulty. If you get into trouble or see someone else in difficulty, call 999 or 112 and ask for the Coast Guard.’
