Crew rescued after Irish trawler sinks
(Picture: Craig Taylor)
An Irish fishing boat which spent time in and around Orkney in recent months was at the centre of an air and sea rescue operation when it sank off the Western Isles yesterday.
The Coastguard was notified of a fishing vessel in distress just before 11am yesterday morning. The Iuda Naofa, a 23m vessel, was taking on water 48 miles north of the Butt of Lewis.
The vessel was one of several Irish boats which fished around Orkney and Shetland this winter.
The Coastguard rescue helicopter was requested to attend the scene and drop a salvage pump onto the Iuda Naofa to pump off the ingress of water. However, the vessel became swamped and started to sink.
The Coastguard search and rescue helicopter airlifted two of the crew onto the nearby sister fishing vessel, the Star of Hope. The other three crew were transferred by helicopter to the Western Isles hospital, where they were treated for mild hypothermia.
Coastguard Duty Watch Manager, Paul Tunstall said: “The weather conditions on scene were very rough seas with southerly force 6 winds, evacuating the five crew swiftly and safely before the vessel went down was a great achievement.”