By Lisa Ramsden
A DRIFTING and upturned jet ski, located several miles off Strangford Lough last Thursday evening, sparked a major air and sea search.
Helicopters from Scotland and Dublin, along with lifeboats from Portaferry and the Isle of Man, were involved in the operation, amid fears its rider was lost at sea.
The alarm was raised when the adrift jet ski was found by a passing powerboat in the Irish Sea, several miles east of the lough’s entrance.
Portaferry Lifeboat Station’s volunteers were requested to assist around 8.40pm, launching quickly with helm Rusty McGovern and crew Chris Adair, Paul Mageean and Chris Hannon.
Once on scene and with no sign of a person in the vicinity, the lifeboat crew began a search of the area.
The crew of Peel RNLI’s all-weather lifeboat joined the Portaferry crew soon afterwards, as did the two helicopters.
Meanwhile, on land, images of the jet ski were shared widely on social media, eventually leading to its owner being identified and the search called off around 10.45pm.
The Coastguard, which was co-ordinating the operation, was later able to establish that the jet ski at the centre of the major search was being towed the previous weekend, on 12 July, when it began taking on water and was abandoned.
Speaking after the call-out, Portaferry RNLI’s Rusty McGovern said the boat crew who raised the alarm did exactly the right thing, adding that “this is always the right thing to do”.
He continued: “When we arrived on scene, the jet ski was upturned and after righting it, we began a search of the area. This search continued until the owner was located ashore.
“This multi-agency call-out had a good outcome and was great experience for volunteer lifeboat crew member Chris Hannon, who was on his first call-out since passing out as inshore lifeboat crew.”
