Five fishermen plucked from stormy sea after trawler sinks

Four Galway based fishermen and a Romanian crewman are making their way home after a terrifying experience when the trawler they were fishing on sank off the west coast of Scotland on Tuesday. The men had a lucky escape as they all managed to be dramatically saved by the Scottish coastguard rescue helicopter.

The Iúda Naofa is a 23 metre vessel which is based at the port of Rossaveal. The boat is owned by Inis Mór native Máirtín “Twenty” O’Conghaile who was acting as skipper for the fishing expedition. Mr O’Conghaile’s son Micheál was also on board along with Carna natives Paraic Breathnach and Eric Hernon. The Romanian man was the fifth member of the crew.

Iúda Naofa began taking on water 48 miles north of the Butt of Lewis at about 11am on Tuesday.The coastguard was immediately notified of a fishing vessel in distress. It is now being speculated that the extremely stormy weather found a weakness in the boat’s hull which led to a crack forming and the subsequent leakage.

News

Five fishermen plucked from stormy sea after trawler sinks

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