James Cox
A fishing vessel that suffered a loss of power is being towed towards Bantry by the Naval ship LE George Bernard Shaw.
The fishing vessel the Ellie Adhamh suffered a loss of power approximately 70 miles west of Bantry Bay on Friday morning and has been adrift
The response is being coordinated by the Coast Guard Rescue Coordination centre at Valentia who initially tasked a Coast Guard Helicopter to the scene.
The Ellie Adhamh suffered a loss of power 70 miles west of Bantry Bay. Pic: Irish Coast Guard.
The crew declined an offer to have some of the crew evacuated from the vessel.
The situation was monitored overnight by Valentia with the LE George Bernard Shaw on scene from 9pm last night.
Weather conditions overnight were challenging but the crew are reported to be in good spirits.
The Castletownbere RNLI lifeboat was also alerted and is monitoring the tow. A Coast Guard helicopter also transferred water pumps onto the vessel owing to the loss of power on the vessel.
The tow is proceeding satisfactorily and is expected to reach Bantry Bay later this evening where arrangements will be made to have the vessel taken into port.
