Two people had to be rescued this afternoon after their cruise boat ran aground on Lough Derg.
The pair were on a 35-foot cruiser which got into difficulty north of Inishparran Point near Mountshannon on the Clare side of the lake.
The occupants raised the alarm at around 3.20pm when they made radio contact with watch officers at the Irish Coast Guard marine rescue sub centre on Valentia Island in Kerry.
The Killaloe unit of the Irish Coast Guard was alerted and requested to respond to the incident. The volunteer team launched one boat from their base while a second smaller boat was transported to the incident by road and launched from Mountshannon pier.
On arrival at the scene, Coast Guard volunteers undertook an assessment of the vessel before attempting to tow the cruiser off the rocks however the initial effort was unsuccessful.
After a number of attempts the vessel was towed to deep water but could not make it’s own way due to steering issues. Instead, the vessel was taken under tow by Killaloe Coast Guard and tied in Mountshannon Harbour.
The occupants were unharmed.