Tag Archives: Skerries

Unusual lights off Skerries – 20th March 2011

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At 04:26 this morning, Skerries Coast Guard were tasked by the Coast Guard’s maritime operations centre to investigate public reports of persons in difficulty on one of the islands off Skerries. Given the recent spring tides, there was concern that persons may have ventured out to the island on foot and been cut off by the incoming tide.

The Skerries Coast Guard team arrived at the South Strand, Skerries and observed the island, noting several lights along the island’s shoreline. After, surveying the area, the Skerries Coast Guard team concluded that the persons were not in difficulty and no further assistance was required.

Remember – if you spot someone in difficulty along the coast, or even if you think that someone may be in difficulty, dial 112 or 999 and ask for the COAST GUARD. Your call could save their life.

Incident #3 of 2011

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Incident at Skerries harbour – 3rd March 2011

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At 20:25 this evening the Skerries Coast Guard team were tasked to investigate reports of a swamped fishing vessel at Skerries harbour.  Attempts were being made by the skipper to salvage the vessel and further assistance was requested from both the Coast Guard and Skerries Fire Brigade.

The Skerries Coast Guard team arrived on scene within minutes and surveyed the scene.  The skipper was requested to remove the EPIRB from the vessel to prevent accidental deployment of the distress signal. The Skerries Coast Guard team also monitored the pollution threat from the vessel which was carrying amounts of diesel and other oil onboard.

Shortly before 23:30, the numerous attempts by the Skipper to right the vessel finally proved successful and it was secured to the harbour wall. The Skerries Coast Guard team were stood down at 23:45.

Incident # 2 of 2011

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Search and rescue training – Red Island, Skerries

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This evening, the Skerries Coast Guard team took part in a large scale search and rescue training exercise. The search area was focused on the headland of Red Island, near Skerries harbour. The exercise was based on the scenario of a person reported missing, last seen in the Red Island area before darkness fell. Following the initial search brief, each of the teams dispersed to their respective search areas and the systematic search of the area commenced. Despite the challenging terrain and poor on scene weather conditions, the casualty was successfully located.

At this point, the exercise moved to the rescue aspect as the Skerries Coast Guard team demonstrated their casualty assessment and emergency first aid skills.

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Training with Coast Guard helicopter

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At daybreak this morning, the volunteers of Skerries Coast Guard took part in their first training exercise of 2011. The team joined forces with the crew of the Coast Guard’s Dublin based Sikorsky S-61N helicopter (EI-MES) for some routine training.

The chosen landing site was at Red Island, near Skerries harbour with on scene weather conditions proving favourable to the training event.  After landing and rotor shutdown, the Skerries team were given an excellent ground briefing by the helicopter crew. This served as a useful refresher on helicopter operations, landing site selection & preparations, comms, embarking & disembarking techniques, winching, and the helicopter’s search & rescue equipment.

Once the ground briefing was completed, the team then took part in a practical winching exercise with the helicopter. The recent new additions to the Skerries team also took part in a familarisation flight along the coast.