The RNLI and Irish Coast Guard were involved in an operation this afternoon to assist the crew of a passenger vessel with 40 people on board after it ran aground on rocks on Lough Derg.
The incident occurred at around 2.00 pm at Gortmore south of Terryglass Co Tipperary at the northern end of the lake. After the alarm was raised, the Lough Derg RNLI lifeboat was tasked along with the Killaloe unit of the Irish Coast Guard.
On arrival at the scene, RNLI volunteers found that the vessel had run aground on a rock shoal. The lifeboat crew checked that everyone on board was safe and carried out an assessment of the scene before deciding on what action to take.
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It was decided that an effort would be made to tow the vessel off 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. Coast Guard land teams then transported the six to Terryglass where they were expected to collect and brought to Portumna by road.
In the meantime, the RNLI lifeboat crew was able to tow the grounded vessel off the rocks and into deeper water. An assessment of the vessel was also carried out in an effort to establish whether any damage had been caused.
The boat was able to continue under its own power to harbour in Portumna accompanied by the RNLI lifeboat crew. No one was injured in the incident.
The operation was coordinated by watch officers at the Irish Coast Guard’s marine rescue sub-centre on Valentia Island in Co Kerry.
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