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Man swims to safety as boat sinks on Shannon

The first incident occurred about 1km south of Killaloe Bridge – Photo: © Pat Flynn 

One person was forced to swim to safety after his boat sank on the River Shannon near Killaloe this afternoon.

At around 2.15pm, a member of the public called 999 reporting a vessel taking on water and sinking 1km south of Killaloe Bridge. There was one person on board at the time.

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Watch officers at the Irish Coast Guard’s marine rescue sub centre on Valentia Island in Kerry quickly mounted a search and rescue operation.

The Killaloe Coast Guard unit, National Ambulance Service, Gardaí and the Shannon based Irish Coast Guard search and rescue helicopter, Rescue 115, were all requested to respond.

A Coast Guard boat crew launched and arrived at the scene within minutes of being alerted. On arrival the crew found the boat had sunk but they soon established that the sole occupant of the boat had made it safely ashore on the Tipperary shore.

A Coast Guard shore team made their way to the area and offered assistance to the casualty. He was found to be safe and well and did not require medical assistance.

Once it was confirmed the casualty was safe and did not require further assistance, the helicopter and ambulance were stood down.

The vessel, a 21 foot cabin cruiser, sank and could not be recovered at the time. The area has been marked to warn other vessels of the obstacle beneath the waterline.

Photo: © Pat Flynn 

This was the second call of the day for the Killaloe Coast Guard team.

Earlier, At 1215pm, the unit were requested to assist a cruiser North of Pierhead Killaloe, close to their own base, The skipper, who had reported experiencing steering issues, had dropped anchor and called for assistance.

One arrival at the scene, a Coast Guard crew member was transferred to the casualty vessel which was then taken on tow to Harbour Village where a shore team assisted with the safe mooring of the vessel.

Both operations were mounted and coordinated by staff at the Irish Coast Guard marine rescue sub station on Valentia Island.

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