Four people have been rescued after the ship they were traveling on caught fire and sank. The incident came to light shortly before 4pm on Saturday when the coastguard received a call reporting an 11-metre pleasure craft on fire one and a half miles off the coast of Dun Laoghaire.
A lifeboat from Dún Laoghaire RNLI arrived at the scene a few minutes later and successfully extracted the four adults on board and brought them safely to shore. Police, the Dun Laoghaire All Weather Lifeboat and the Dublin Port Tug were also at the scene along with the Dublin Fire Brigade.
The fire was reported to be extinguished shortly after 5 pm and the ship later sank.
A Department for Transport spokesperson told Dublin Live: “At approximately 15:45 today the Coast Guard was called to reports of a fire aboard an 11 meter pleasure vessel with 4 adults on board. The vessel was approximately 1.5 miles north east of Dún Laoghaire.
“MRCC Dublin immediately tasked Dún Laoghaire RNLI and at approximately 15:56 Dún Laoghaire RNLI (inshore lifeboat) arrived on scene and successfully extracted 4 adults and took them ashore for assessment at the RNLI station, where they were met by HSE and fire service personnel.”
“The Dun Laoghaire All Weather Lifeboat and Dublin Port Tug remained at the scene.
“MRCC Dublin was in contact with Dún Laoghaire Coast Guard Unit, Dún Laoghaire RNLI and Dublin Port.
“At approximately 17:15 the ship’s fire was reported extinguished and the ship was sinking.”
