Four people including a young child had to be assisted by an RNLI lifeboat this evening after their cruiser got into difficulty on Lough Derg.
It was the third time in less than a week that the volunteer crew of the Lough Derg RNLI lifeboat had to assist people in difficulty on the lake while the Coast Guard was tasked to another incident.
A total of 20 people have been ‘assisted’ or rescued by search and rescue services on Lough Derg since last Sunday.
In the latest incident today, the lifeboat was sent to the assistance of three adults and a child after their 35ft cruiser ran aground behind the Corrakeen Islands in Dromineer Bay.
The alarm was raised at around 5.30pm and the lifeboat was launched shortly afterwards reaching the scene within three minutes.
Volunteer crew members took soundings as they approached the casualty vessel before commencing efforts to to tow the cruiser off the rocks and into safe water where it’s drives and steering were checked and found to be undamaged.
With two volunteers on board the cruiser with the occupants, the lifeboat accompanied them to Dromineer Harbour.
On Tuesday, the RNLI was requested to assist a person on a 27ft cruiser that had suffered engine failure and run aground in poor conditions at Gortmore Point. The lifeboat located the casualty vessel and towed it to safety in Terryglass.
Last Sunday, the Lough Derg crew assisted nine people after their 55ft vessel ran aground near Drominagh Co Tipperary.
On reaching the scene, and confirming that all board were safe and that the vessel had not been damaged, the lifeboat crew attached a tow rope and manoeuvred the boat off the rocks and into safer, deeper water.
Also last Sunday, the Killaloe unit of the Irish Coast Guard rescued six men after their cruiser collided with a bridge on the Shannon at Killaloe/Ballina.
The men were safely transferred from the casualty vessel to the Coast Guard rescue boat and brought ashore. The decision to take the occupants off the cruiser was made after it was found the vessel had been holed and was taking on water.
It wasn’t possible to recover the cruiser at the time because it was wedged against the stone bridge by the fast flowing river. The vessel was recovered late the following day in an operation involving two other boats over several hours.
All the operations were coordinated by watch officers at the Irish Coast Guard’s marine rescue sub centre on Valentia Island in Kerry. No on was injured in any of the incidents.