A salvage operation last night followed the rescue of 17 Spanish and Portuguese crew from a Spanish flagship off the west coast as efforts were made to take the smouldering vessel in tow.
The crew of the Milford Eagle, a British-registered Spanish craft, were forced to abandon ship and take to life-rafts when a fire broke out on board some 150 miles west of Shannon early yesterday morning.
All 17 were airlifted to shore by Irish Coastguard Sikorsky helicopters from Shannon and Dublin in hazardous weather conditions, with rescue cover being provided by an RAF Nimrod and the Irish-registered Spanish vessel, Alimar. Ironically, the Milford Eagle and the Alimar were both apprehended for alleged fishing offences by the Naval Service's LE Aoife just over a week ago and taken into Castletownbere, Co Cork.
An Air Corps Casa maritime patrol plane and the Naval Service patrol ship, LE Aisling, were dispatched yesterday to locate the position of the Milford Eagle and ensure it posed no threat to navigation or the environment. Last night, the Department of the Marine and Natural Resources confirmed that the vessel was drifting in a north-easterly direction, and the insurers had commissioned salvage assistance to take it into Killybegs, Co Donegal.
When the fire on the Milford Eagle proved to be beyond the crew's control they took to three life-rafts which they lashed together. A Mayday was picked up by the Irish Coastguard (formerly the Irish Marine Emergency Service) just after 2 a.m., and the rescue services were scrambled. An RAF Nimrod fixed-wing aircraft from Kinloss, Scotland, was the first to locate the burning vessel, and spotted a flare. Battling against 60 knot headwinds, the Irish Coastguard Sikorsky from Shannon, flown by pilot Derek Nequest, co-pilot Robert Goodbody, winch operator John Manning and winchman Noel Donnelly, took two hours to reach the scene and used its infrared heat-seeking equipment to detect the liferafts.
Mr Donnelly (42), from Armagh, was lowered into the sea and swam to the life-rafts, where he attempted to reassure the crew. As fuel was now a critical factor for the helicopter, the four lightest crew were airlifted on board and the Sikorsky returned to base.
Mr Donnelly remained with the remaining 13: "It wouldn't have looked too good if I had left!" he said yesterday. Conditions were "pretty rough", with surface winds running at up to 50 knots and 40 to 50 foot waves.
The RAF Nimrod sought assistance from other vessels in the area, while the Dublin-based Irish Coastguard Sikorsky, under the command of pilot Gordon Baird, with co-pilot Hayden Lewis, winch operator Steve Dodd, and winchman Paul Ormsby, flew to assist.
The Alimar was within a 15mile range and arrived about two hours later, shortly before the Dublin-based Sikorsky. "At this stage, the crew were cold and wet, but no one was seriously injured and no one was suffering from hypothermia," Mr Donnelly said, as he played down his own role and said it was "no big deal". He paid tribute to the skipper of the Alimar who applied "considerable skill" in coming alongside the life-rafts, and providing shelter while the crew were taken on board.
Some 15 minutes later, the remaining 13 men were back on deck again as they were winched up in pairs on to the Dublin-based Sikorsky shortly before 8 a.m. and flown to Shannon. They were taken from there for medical checks to hospital in Ennis, Co Clare.
The Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources, Mr Fahey, commended the rescue crews, and also the staff at the Marine Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Dublin and the Valentia and Malin Coastguard radio stations.
The Minister said Mr Donnelly had displayed "tremendous courage", and he wished to thank also the crew of the Irish-registered vessel, Alimar and the RAF Nimrod.
