A Co Wexford skipper and his crewman were recovering last night after their fishing vessel sank east of Tuskar Rock lighthouse.
They had taken part in the search for missing fishermen when they had to be winched up by a rescue helicopter.
Kevin Downes, skipper/owner of Renegade, a 27m (86ft) twin-rig trawler, and Ken Doyle from Duncannon, Co Wexford, were airlifted from a life raft less than an hour after they had issued a Mayday broadcast, reporting that the vessel was taking water.
Mr Downes is married with three children, while Mr Doyle is a father of two.
The Renegade was en route to Howth, Co Dublin, for repairs, having been involved in yesterday's continued search for the bodies of the five crewmen on the Pere Charles.
The Pere Charles sank just over two miles south of Hook Head a week ago en route to Dunmore East with herring, and hours later a second vessel, the Kinsale-based Honeydew II, sank off Mine Head with the loss of two of its four crew, including skipper/owner Gerard Bohan.
Winds yesterday evening were northeasterly force three to four with a moderate swell, and searches for the seven missing fishermen had been suspended for the night when the third fishing vessel got into difficulty. Dublin Coast Guard tasked the Irish Coast Guard Waterford-based Sikorsky helicopter and the Rosslare lifeboat, under coxswain Eamon O'Rourke.
A container ship, the Euphoria, which was within four miles of the alert, steamed to the area and located the two men in the life raft.
The ship stood off while both were winched on board the helicopter and flown to Waterford Regional Hospital for observation. All three life rafts with the vessel were retrieved by the Rosslare lifeboat and taken ashore, according to its deputy launching authority, Dave Maloney.
The Renegade, a 38-year-old Dutch-built vessel, survived a serious incident when it was holed by a ship that failed to stop in the Irish Sea. The steel trawler had been fishing for prawns on the night of July 25th, 1999, when it was struck by an unidentified merchant vessel. The ship caught the port side trawl warp and pulled the Renegade over before the warp snapped.
A Mayday was issued and life rafts were launched. Four of the crew were rescued by a second vessel, the Mellifont, which had been fishing about half a mile away, while skipper Trevor Byrne and crewman Michael Kinneen cut loose the fishing gear and restarted the engine. Weather is expected to hamper diving efforts for much of the rest of this week in the search for bodies that may or may not be on board the wreck of the Pere Charles, which is lying in some 35m (115ft) of water.
Naval Service divers working from the Irish Lights ship, Granuaile, are reported to have reached the wreck yesterday but were unable to gain access. However, shore searches are expected to continue along the south-east coastline for all seven men lost.
