Two fishermen were rescued by the Castletownbere RNLI lifeboat when their fishing boat lost power and began taking in water off the west Cork coast.
The Valentia Coast Guard centre requested the RNLI vessel Annette Hutton to launch after receiving reports the 20m fishing boat Seaquest was in difficulty.
The Seaquest was fishing off Blackball Head on the southern side of the Beara Peninsula when it lost power early on Sunday morning and began taking in water in heavy seas.
When the Annette Hutton arrived on the scene two miles southwest of Blackball Head, another local fishing boat, Sea Spray, was standing by in “challenging conditions”.
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Strong winds and a four- to five-metre swell were causing the Seaquest to roll, but the lifeboat crew managed to attach a towline to the boat.
The lifeboat slowly towed the Seaquest to Castletownbere harbour where a local tug assisted with berthing at Dinish Pier.
Brendan O’Neill of Castletownbere RNLI Lifeboat said: “Given the poor weather conditions, the crew aboard the fishing boat made the correct decision to call for help immediately and we are glad that everyone is now ashore safe and well.”
