The RNLI and Irish Coast Guard were involved in an operation to assist the crew of a passenger vessel with 40 people on board, after it ran aground on rocks on Lough Derg this afternoon.
The incident occurred at around 1.20pm at Bonaveen Point south of Terryglass at the northern end of the lake. The Lough Derg RNLI lifeboat was tasked along with the Killaloe unit of the Irish Coast Guard after the alarm was raised.
On arrival at the scene, RNLI volunteers found that the vessel had run aground on a rock shoal. The lifeboat came alongside the port side of the casualty vessel. Volunteers established that all on board were safe and unharmed and wearing their lifejackets.
The lifeboat crew carried out an assessment at the scene before deciding on what action to take. The lifeboat remained in constant VHF contact with watch officers at the Irish Coast Guard’s marine rescue coordination centre on Valentia Island. The incident response was coordinated from there.
The lifeboat asked if the casualty vessel was taking on any water and if there were any hazards visible in the water around the boat. The casualty vessel said they were not taking on any water and informed the RNLI crew that there was a significant hazard on their starboard side.
It was decided that an effort would be made to tow the vessel of the rocks. However, before this could be attempted, a number of passengers had to be transferred to the Coast Guard boat to take some weight off the stranded vessel.
Six people in all were safely taken on board the Coast Guard rescue boat and brought ashore. The six were then transported by Coast Guard land teams to Terryglass where we were expected to collected and brought to Portumna.
In the meantime, the RNLI lifeboat crew was able to tow the grounded vessel off the rocks and into deeper water. A further assessment of the vessel was also carried out in an effort to establish whether any damage have been caused.
The boat was able to continue under its own power to harbour in Portumna accompanied the RNLI lifeboat crew and the Killaloe Coast Guard boat..
