By Lisa Ramsden
KILKEEL’S new lifeboat launched to assist sailors in difficulty near St John’s Point on Friday night – less than five hours after it was declared operational.
The million-pound vessel, which arrived in Kilkeel in December and has seen its volunteer crew undergo extensive training in preparation for its official roll-out, launched to assist Newcastle RNLI in a two-vessel rescue operation in challenging weather conditions.
Two sailors, in separate vessels, ran into trouble within relatively close proximity shortly before midnight.
Initially, the call saw Newcastle’s crew asked to respond to a yacht which had run aground and was taking on water on the western side of St John’s Point lighthouse. However, as the situation evolved, the decision was taken to also call in Kilkeel’s support with its new all-weather lifeboat, which had officially gone on service at 7pm on Friday.
With Newcastle’s Atlantic-class boat, which has been in service for just six months, carrying out a search for the grounded yacht, its crew focused on the sailor’s last known position. They faced what the RNLI later described as a “challenging” search in darkness, with strong winds and 1.5-metre waves.
At this point, a second 999 call was made to Coastguard headquarters in Bangor from another sailor in the vicinity who was disorientated and unable to make way under their own power but was in a safe position.
With this information, Belfast Coastguard asked both lifeboat crews to continue searching for the first reported casualty, who had now activated a personal locator beacon and was plotted by GPS 1.5 nautical miles further west of their last known position.
Newcastle RNLI’s crew located the yacht drifting in shallow water towards rocks on Minerstown beach. A risk assessment was carried out, and the helm decided the safest option was to evacuate the yachtsman and transfer him onto their lifeboat. The yacht was later found beached in Dundrum Inner Bay the following morning.
Once safely onboard, casualty care was administered as the crew made their way back to station. The sailor was cold and exhausted and was subsequently handed into the care of the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service and taken to hospital for overnight observation.
Meanwhile, Kilkeel RNLI’s new Shannon-class lifeboat was diverted to locate the second sailor, which they did a short distance offshore. The crew found the sailor exhausted and disorientated, while the yacht was at risk of being blown towards shore in poor weather conditions, including a strong south-easterly wind.
The Kilkeel crew assessed the situation and decided the safest course of action was to transfer a crew member onto the yacht and establish a towrope to bring the vessel and sailor back to Kilkeel Harbour – a task that proved challenging in the conditions.
The sailor, yacht and lifeboat crew were safely back in Kilkeel at 5am.
Newcastle and Kilkeel Coastguard teams assisted with the casualties both at Newcastle RNLI Lifeboat Station and Kilkeel Harbour.
Speaking after the call-out, Gerald Sharkey, Kilkeel RNLI’s Coxswain Afloat Mechanic, said: “We want to wish both sailors well following their ordeal on Friday night into the early hours of Saturday morning.”
