A 62-year-old fisherman was rescued off the Kerry coast on Friday night when he was found injured aboard his vessel which was drifting in rough seas.
The lone fisherman had gone out on his crab potting boat, the Portan Or from Dingle earlier on Friday and he told another fishing boat around lunch hour he had only one more pot to pull before returning to port.
However, when the fisherman failed to return to Dingle on Friday evening, the alarm was raised and the Irish Coast Guard Marine Rescue Centre at Valentia Island started a search operation around 7pm.
The Irish Coast Guard Sikorski helicopter, Rescue 115 from Shannon was tasked as was the RNLI Valentia All Weather Lifeboat, the John and Margaret Doig and Dingle Cliff and Coastal Search Unit.
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The vessel was found drifting in Force 6-7 winds and two metre swells, midway across Dingle Bay and the fisherman was found injured on deck but it is not believed his injuries were life-threatening.
Rescue 115 remained on standby at the scene while the Portan Or was taken under tow by the Valentia Lifeboat to Dingle Harbour where a HSE paramedic team was on standby to assess the casualty’s injuries.
Rescue 115 remained on standby in Dingle in case the casualty needed to be airlifted to either University Hospital Kerry or Cork University Hospital for treatment for his injuries.
