Lough Derg RNLI Lifeboat launched to assist 7 people on board a 15ft motor boat with engine difficulties, near Coolbawn, Lough Derg.
Lough Derg RNLI Lifeboat launched at 10.20pm this evening, Tuesday July 20, following a request from Valentia Coast Guard to assist seven young people on board a 15ft RIB (Rigid Inflatable Boat) with engine difficulties near Coolbawn Quay, on the eastern shore of Lough Derg.
Winds were westerly, Force 3, visibility was poor, with imminent nightfall.
At 10.30pm the lifeboat, with helm Peter Clarke, Eleanor Hooker and Keith Brennan on board, located the vessel by Illaunmor.
The seven people on board were unharmed, but feeling chilled and were wrapped in towels. Survivor lifejackets were distributed to those who had none.
An RNLI volunteer boarded the RIB and one of the casualties was taken onto the lifeboat. The lifeboat towed the RIB with her passengers to Dromineer.
Peter Clarke, Helm at Lough Derg RNLI Lifeboat, advises lake users to ‘respect the water, to carry enough lifejackets for everyone on board and to ensure they wear them, and to regularly service their boat’s engines’.