Three crew members and an official from the Marine Institute were rescued from the Irish Sea yesterday after a Co Waterford trawler, the Gismonde, caught fire off the Welsh coast. Tim O'Brienreports.
The drama began when fire broke out aboard the 22-metre trawler shortly after 10am, about 38 miles south-west of St David's Head.
The crew, under skipper Seán Stafford, sent out an "epirb" (emergency position-indicating radio beacon) distress signal before launching a life-raft, from which they were picked up a short time later by a nearby trawler, the Ocean Pearl.
The four men were winched to safety by the Irish Marine Emergency Services helicopter based in Waterford. They were taken to Ardkeen Hospital suffering from smoke inhalation, but all were discharged yesterday afternoon.
Fishermen in Dunmore East said yesterday that a factor in the rescue of the men was a personal epirb carried by the Marine Institute official. A spokeswoman for the Marine Institute said that personal epirbs were issued to all officials when they went to sea.
The official was on board the boat to monitor the size of discarded fish as part of fish stock management.
The wooden trawler from Dunmore East was still afloat and burning yesterday afternoon and a Department of Transport spokeswoman said that a British naval vessel, HMS Mersey, was standing by.
A spokesman for Dunmore East Fishermen's Co-Operative praised the fast action of the Milford Haven Marine Office, which co-ordinated the rescue, and also the Irish Marine Emergency Services.
He said that the incident illustrated the effectiveness of epirbs and he recommended that all fishermen should carry them.