UNION Hall RNLI were paged by Valentia Coast Guard and launched at 3.17pm today (Monday) to reports of an overdue boat, that had left Ring pier, at 10am this morning with one person onboard.
Launching in flat calm conditions with excellent visibility, the lifeboat under helm Chris Collins with crew members Tim Forde, Stephen Hurley and Johnny McKenna, left Glandore harbour heading for Ring, which is located at the head of Clonakilty Bay in West Cork.
While en route to where the casualty vessel was reported, they heard that the punt was being escorted into the nearest safe port of Ring by another boat in the area. The volunteers at Union Hall continued to meet up with the two boats, who were happy to proceed into Ring themselves.
The lifeboat returned to Union Hall Lifeboat Station at 4.10pm.
Jim Moloney, Union Hall RNLI deputy launching authority said: ‘In the current warm weather spell it is so important when going out on the water, to ensure that everybody is wearing a lifejacket, that they carry a means of communication, a mobile phone or we recommend a VHF, wearing suitable clothing and that they let someone know where they are going and what time they are expected back.
‘Luckily the person on board had let someone on shore know what time to expect them back, and when this time had passed, the alarm was raised and help was quickly on hand.’
The RNLI is independent of the Coast Guard and government and depends on voluntary donations and legacies to maintain its rescue service.
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