Galway coast guard lifeboat rescue sailors after family lose contact
Family members alerted the coast guard after several hours of not being able to make contact with the duo
Volunteer groups at Galway Lifeboat Station had an extremely busy night dealing with two major incidents against some severe weather conditions.
Coast guards alerted crews to the first incident on a research ship where an unwell crew member needed a medical evacuation.
Members of the crew were forced to deal with rough sea conditions but managed to get the person to safety from Mutton Island.
The second call, again from the coast guard, alerted the crew to a 33 foot sailing boat with two sailors onboard who had been expected to arrive home earlier that Sunday evening but were still missing.
Family members alerted the coast guard after several hours of not being able to make contact with the duo.
The lifeboat and crew made way to the area to check on the welfare of the sailors and at around 2.40am located the sailing boat and the two sailors on board who were making their way slowly up the Clare coast.
Thankfully both sailors were safe and well but had lost means of communications after encountering the rough weather.
The lifeboat crew then brought the two sailors onto the lifeboat and transferred them to shore and back to the waiting families.
Peter Navan was the Launch Authority on call for Galway RNLI last night. He said: “It was quite an unusual evening to say the least with three different call outs in such quick succession.
“But it is the sort of scenario that we are trained for, not just in terms of the skills and experience of the lifeboat crew but also the decision making and risk assessment required when there are three incidents taking place almost simultaneously.
“Our mission is to save lives at sea so the highest priority is always someone who is in the water or at risk of getting into trouble in the water.”
He added: “The evening was an example of the excellent co-operation between all the agencies involved in search and rescue in Galway including ourselves, the Irish Coast Guard, the Galway Fire and Rescue Service, An Garda Síochána, the National Ambulance Service and indeed the supportive maritime community here in the West.
“We are very happy that everything went as well as it could and it was a really positive outcome all around.”