Men rescued on Strangford Lough

Men rescued on Strangford Lough

18 July 2012

TWO men were rescued from Strangford Lough on Friday after a rigid inflatable boat collided with a yacht.

Portaferry RNLI received a call from the Coastguard at 2am following a report that a rib and a yacht had crashed near Killyleagh and that both boats were sinking.

The volunteer crew launched its inshore Atlantic 85 lifeboat with four on board at 2.07am and made their way to the scene half-a-mile from land.

When the crew arrived on the scene they found two men in the rib but no-one on board the yacht. Weather conditions were reported as clear and calm.

One man had sustained a minor head injury and both were taken by the lifeboat to a slipway at Killyleagh yacht club. The injured man was then taken to hospital by a friend who was waiting at the quay side.

Portaferry lifeboat crew then returned to the scene of the accident and secured both boats to a mooring before returning to base at 3.30am.

Deputy Launching Authority Lennie Lawson said the rescue was a credit to the volunteer crew who responded quickly and in numbers in the early hours of the morning.

“It was amazing how quickly our crew turned out and got to the scene launching within six minutes,” he said. “Thankfully, weather conditions were favourable which assisted the crew in returning the casualty safely to shore.”

Local MP Jim Shannon praised the RNLI for their quick response.

“We too often take for granted the courageous and tremendous work of the RNLI but they are always there to come to the rescue and to save lives and they do that every week of the year,” he said. “When we are off on holidays or enjoying our leisure time, the RNLI volunteers are still on duty.”