Lifeboats Keep Cargo Ship From Hitting Rocks Off Irish Coast

Three lifeboats and a coastguard helicopter were launched on October 20 to rescue a 4,000-tonne cargo ship after its engine failed and it started to drift towards rocks off the southern Irish coast.

The RNLI said lifeboats established tow lines to stay the ship, the Lily B, while battling six-meter waves and strong winds.

The stays were passed to a tug that arrived more than two and a half hours after the initial callout, and the vessel was escorted to calmer waters.

RNLI operations manager David Maloney said: “If it wasn’t for the work of the three lifeboat crews out in force eight conditions I fear the vessel would have hit the rocks and there could have been a serious loss of life. The 4,000-tonne vessel came within a half a mile of the shore.” Credit: RNLI via Storyful