Irish Coast Guard statistics for 2002 show a significant increase in the numbers of lives saved in offshore and inshore waters.
They also show that coastline searches for missing people put great demands on emergency services.
The Minister for the Marine, Mr Ahern, who is due to release the figures today, paid tribute to the work of the Coast Guard over the past year and described as "truly inspiring" this week's rescue by the Shannon-based Sikorsky helicopter of an injured crewman off a gas-oil tanker 140 miles west of Mayo.
The statistics show a 63.37 per cent increase in the number of people assisted or saved since 2001. Assistance during the heavy floods of February and November 2002 is one of the reasons for this increase, according to the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources.
There was a 22.08 per cent rise in incidents involving fishing vessels, but fatalities were way down on 2000 - the year 29 fishermen lost their lives. There was a small decrease last year in incidents involving pleasure craft.
Eight hundred and twenty-five members from 52 Irish Coast Guard units were called out on 646 occasions, which is over double the number of call-outs in 2001. This is mainly due to a 40 per cent increase in reports of missing people on shore - including the death toll on the Slaney river in Co Wexford and incidents in Kerry, Wexford and Donegal.
Throughout 2002, the Irish Coast Guard helicopters in Shannon, Dublin and Waterford were tasked on 268 occasions - an increase of 14 per cent from the 235 missions for 2001. There was also an increase of 13.74 per cent in the number of RNLI Lifeboats tasked by the Coast Guard, from 575 in 2001 to 654 in 2002, while the number of community inshore rescue boats called out rose dramatically from 34 to 80. Some of the community rescue boats were involved in prolonged searches for missing people.
There were 30 hoax calls last year, compared to 28 the year before.
Mr Ahern described last year's figure as unacceptable, and said even one hoax alert is "one too many". He warned that the "full weight of the law" will be imposed on anyone found guilty of making such calls.
The Minister expressed his sympathy to those families who lost loved ones at sea during the year and vowed to continue to make safety at sea a top priority.
Within the past year he established a maritime safety directorate, and last August he initiated a review of water safety, including use of lifejackets.
