Four adults and three children were rescued by a lifeboat crew at the Galway end of Lough Derg this week.
A volunteer lifeboat crew deployed from the Lough Derg RNLI station yesterday at around 3:40pm in response to a boat in distress.
The lifeboat hurried to the scene at Coose Bay, at the Galway end of the lough, between Split Rock and Hagen Rock.
They found a 60ft cruiser which ran aground after the boat lost steering.
The volunteer crew, with Eleanor Hooker on the helm and crewmates Owen Cavanagh, Keith Brennan and Doireann Kennedy arrived on scene and assessed the situation.
Two marine engineers from the cruise company were also on the scene at the time.
They found that no one aboard was hurt and everyone was wearing lifejackets, but an inspection of the waters found that the ship was lodged on an extremely hazardous shoal.
An inspection of the boat found no water making its way inside, though there was significant damage to the rudder.
The Lifeboat towed the cruiser off the shoal and into safe water, then passed the tow to the cruise company’s rescue vessel.
An RNLI crew member remained with the casualty vessel until they were satisfied that the handover was complete, while the lifeboat returned to station at around 6pm.
Helmswoman Eleanor Hooker advises boat users “to remain with the navigation marks, and to ask locals about hazards before setting out from harbour”.
photo: Lough Derg RNLI
