Castletownbere RNLI rescues four as 13m fishing trawler gets into difficulty

Thursday 30 October 2025

Castletownbere RNLI rescued four fishermen last night (Wednesday 29 October) after they issued a Mayday when their 13m trawler hit a post inside the harbour and rapidly took on water.

Castletownbere RNLI

The vessel had been making its way from Dinish Wharf to Castletownbere Harbour when it got into difficulty.

The volunteer crew meanwhile, were just returning from a routine training exercise and were in the process of tying up the lifeboat when the call for help came at 8.45pm.

The lifeboat immediately launched again and made its way the short distance, arriving on scene in two minutes.

The crew observed one person who had taken to a life raft and three others still onboard. All four were safely transferred to the lifeboat. The crew also put a pump onboard the trawler to deal with the ingress of water, but this was to no avail given the rapid intensity at which the water was coming in, and the boat sank within 15 minutes.

All four fishermen were returned safely the short distance to Castletownbere Harbour.

Speaking following the call out, Brendan O’Driscoll, Castletownbere RNLI Launch Authority said: ‘This happened very quickly last night and while we never like to see a boat sinking, we are glad that all four fishermen are safe and well and we wish them all the best following their ordeal. With the trawler taking on water rapidly, we are glad that we were able to be on scene as quickly as we were. We would like to commend the fishermen for having a means of communication to be able to raise the alarm, that is always so important, particularly when time is of the essence.’