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THREE FISHERMEN WERE rescued from a sinking trawler in storm force conditions off the coast of Cork last night.
The 20 foot vessel hit rocks at Moneypoint, near the entrance to Kinsale harbour.
Kinsale RNLI was launched at 6.10pm and arrived on scene less than five minutes later. The volunteer lifeboat crew dropped anchor and veered down, getting within feet of the stricken boat.
The three Portuguese fishermen had to enter the water individually and swim to the RNLI lifeboat where they were pulled to safety.
The men were brought to Kinsale RNLI station where they were shaken by their ordeal but uninjured.
They lost all their personal belongings during the incident and RNLI volunteers issued an appeal to the local community in Kinsale for clothing and shoes for the men.
The station has also received several offers of accommodation for the fishermen.
Kinsale RNLI Helm Nick Searls said, “Our priority was to get the crew safely off the trawler, which was complicated by the breaking waves coming over the top of the boat.
We needed to manoeuvre the lifeboat in as close as possible to the stricken trawler so that the three fishermen could individually jump into the water to be recovered immediately by the lifeboat crew.
“The fishermen were wearing lifejackets and the operation to recover all three of them onto the lifeboat was successful.”
The RNLI lifeboat also returned to the scene to monitor the vessel and to ensure the safety of members of the public who lined the shore to watch the incident unfold.
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Incredible people doing incredible work! Heroes
These volunteers go beyond the term brave.
Great to see the fishermen had life jackets and could swim. So many cant. Good work
That outstretch hand is the most symbolic example of what the RNLI do.
Great works lads.
Absolute legends!
Well done lads. Can happen very quick
Heroes
Well done RNLI.The lads were lucky they were in the harbour and not 10 miles out to sea.
10 miles out at sea hitting rocks?
You dont know much about the sea do you Noel
Fantastic work well done
Heros.
Well Done to the RNLI for the brilliant work in saving the lives of these three fishermen, they are lucky we have such brilliant services and are to be commended highly, But this fishing trawler is illegal and should not be fishing in our seas, The Navy should be patrolling our waters and protecting it from illegal fishing from EU countries, it’s hard enough for our own fishing men to make a living, without our seas being raped by illegal trawlers in our waters
What makes you think they were illegal, Christine? European trawlers fish off our coast legally all the time, the same way that Irish trawlers legally fish off Iceland and Norway etc. Anyway, they were heading for shelter during a storm. Would that be illegal too?
Except considering the weather and their location they probably had the gear stowed and we’re heading in to escape the weather.
Think the trawler was registered in Skibbereen (as you can see in the video) and based in Union Hall. So not sure where you’re getting the illegal fishing idea from.
The Journal has a fantastic record of leaving you wanting more… By not reporting enough details at the start.
The vessel was 20meters long,both Radio and Tv have been reporting the vessel as 20foot long,have people no concept of what 20foot is in actual terms compared to the size of the vessel in the pictures and videos?
Nice one david…20 ft is like a big canoe ….lol
Some operators
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