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SIX fishermen were this weekend breathing a sigh of relief after being snatched to safety in what was a textbook rescue operation from their sinking vessel off the North West Coast of Ireland.
The incident started when the Irish registered fishing boat Amy Jane began taking in water and started to go down some 10 to 15 miles off Malin Head. The crew of the Amy Jane crew sent out a Mayday distress call.
The rescue services of both Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic immediately went into action with Belfast Coastguard station picking up the call for help and then co-ordinating with the Malin Head coastguard in Donegal. An Irish coastguard rescue helicopter was then scrambled and picked up all six men, taking them to Altnagelvin hospital in Londonderry where they were treated mainly for shock and later allowed to go home. RNLI lifeboats from two Northern Ireland ports were also involved in the incident.
Aiden Thompson, the winch operator of the rescue helicopter described it as a "textbook rescue". "Once we got on scene we asked the life raft to send up some flares and when we spotted the life raft there were six men on board, and thankfully everybody was safe and well," he said.
Belfast Coastguard said fishermen were all dressed in their survival suits and were fully equipped with radios and other emergency equipment adding that this helped to ensure a successful rescue. The Amy Jane has since sunk and an official inquiry, probably based in the Irish Republic, will be held into the incident.
In a separate weekend incident two shrimp fishermen were rescued after drifting for four miles in the Irish Sea when their prawn boat, the Boy Bailey sank off the Cumbrian coast.Coastguards said their nets became caught and the men had been in the water for an hour by the time lifeboats reached them off Silloth.They were eventually rescued by an RNLI lifeboat when people on the shore heard them cry for help.
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