At 16:25 this afternoon the Coast Guard’s National Maritime Operations Centre received a report of a small capsized boat adrift near Malahide, Co Dublin. A vigilent member of the public had spotted the small boat’s hull drifting in the water, not far from the shore at the Broadmeadows estuary.
The Skerries Coast Guard team were immediately dispatched to investigate. Having arrived on scene within minutes, the team quickly located the capsized boat in the water at the North Western part of the estuary, to the West of the Dublin-Belfast railway line. Initial observations concluded that there was no sign of anyone in the water nearby. At the time there were several other persons engaged in watersports at the estuary including windsurfers and kayakers. The prevailing weather conditions on scene were mixed with good visibilityand clear skies, but strong gusting force 6 Southerly winds.
After brief shoreline searches and investigations , the team located the boat’s owner at the Southern shoreline of the estuary, he confirmed it had drifted away from a mooring and that nobody was on board at the time. The owner was making arrangements to have it righted and retrieved. No further action was required and the team returned to base.
Remember – if you spot someone in difficulty or even if you think that someone could be in difficulty, call 999 or 112 and ask for the COAST GUARD. Your call could save their life.
Incident #17 of 2011