Howth and Skerries RNLI crews rescue fisherman from sinking fishing boat

The volunteer lifeboat crews at Howth and Skerries RNLI launched two lifeboats on Monday afternoon to assist a fishing boat off the coast of Rush which had hit rocks and was taking on water.  

The pagers sounded just after 1pm, and the crew at Howth RNLI launched their All-Weather lifeboat within ten minutes.  

Due to the urgency of the situation, Dublin Coast Guard also requested Skerries RNLI to launch their lifeboat and for the Coast Guard helicopter Rescue 116 to make their way to the scene.   

A number of nearby fishing boats offered assistance but were unable to get close to the rocks.  

Weather conditions were largely good with light winds but a slight swell on the rocks.  

Howth Lifeboat reached the stricken fishing boat fifteen minutes later.  

The lifeboat crew observed the fishing vessel aground on the rocks and unable to manoeuvre off.  

There was one person on board and the fishing boat was taking on water.  

Skerries Lifeboat reached the scene shortly after. Due to position of the fishing boat, the lifeboats were unable to get close to take the fisherman off safely.  

The crew from Skerries’ Atlantic 85 lifeboat manoeuvred their lifeboat in close to the rocks and passed the tow line from Howth’s All-Weather lifeboat to the fishing boat.  

Howth Lifeboat secured the tow line and began to move the fishing vessel off the rocks.

Once clear of the rocks, two lifeboat crew members were transferred onto the fishing boat with the salvage pump and began pumping out the water.  

Once the water level was reduced to a safe level, Howth Lifeboat proceeded to tow the fishing vessel to Skerries harbour escorted by Skerries Lifeboat and Rescue 116.  

Speaking following the incident, Howth RNLI Second Coxswain, Ian Sheridan said: “The fisherman did the right thing in calling for help when he realised he was in difficulty.

“This was a challenging rescue due to the location of the fishing boat on the rocks however with the assistance from the Skerries crew, we were able to safely remove the boat from the rocks and bring the fisherman to safety.

“This was a great example of two RNLI crews working together with different types of lifeboats to save a life at sea.  

Gerry Canning, Lifeboat Press Officer from Skerries RNLI said:

“Our volunteer lifeboat crews train regularly in all weather conditions so that when the pagers go off, we can respond quickly to save lives at sea.

“If you get into trouble on the water contact the Coast Guard on VHF channel 16 or call 999/112 and ask for the Coast Guard.”