Lifeboat crew rescues men from stolen trawler

A LIFEBOAT rescue turned into a Garda investigation yesterday when it was discovered a fishing boat had been stolen before it ran aground.

Two Waterford men in their 20s were yesterday afternoon helping gardaí with their inquiries in connection with the stolen boat and damage caused to it.

The Cashin Heather, a 10-metre fishing vessel that is owned by Passage East fisherman Dick Mason, went aground on rocks in the estuary outside Waterford near Knockaveelish Head, known locally as Short Head, shortly after 5am yesterday.

The vessel was found in a “ransacked condition”. Oil was spilt, life jackets were strewn around and the interior was smeared with human waste.

The Irish Coast Guard had received a distress call from the boat at about 4.30am yesterday, with RNLI lifeboat crews from Dunmore East and Fethard-on-Sea responding.

The boat, which had been at the harbour in Dunmore East, had a lobster pot attached to its side and this got caught in the propeller shaft.

One man, who was taken from the life raft as he attempted to get to shore, was found wearing just his underwear.

He had shed his clothes before swimming to the life raft. The other man was rescued from the vessel.

Press officer with the Fethard-on-Sea lifeboat, Mary Trehan, yesterday said: “We were instructed by the Irish Coast Guard that there were two individuals in distress... There was one individual in a boat and another in a life raft… The individual in the life raft was suffering from hypothermia.”

The Coast Guard at Dunmore East called an ambulance to take the most distressed man to hospital from Woodstown beach.

David Mason (25), a son of the boat’s owner, Dick Mason, and who works on the boat part-time, yesterday expressed anger at the condition of the boat.

Mr Mason, who lives in Cheekpoint with his father and mother, said: “The door was broken; she was robbed before it went aground off Woodstown on some rocks.

“They must have been on something – it’s disgusting. A dog wouldn’t do what they have done.

“The flares were set off and the life raft and the propeller is gone. All the oil from the drums was emptied all over the place.

“The VHS [navigating system] wasn’t touched, thank God.

“If my father had caught them they would have been killed. He was fuming. We were only after doing her up.”

Sgt Larry Langton last night described the men helping them as “local” city men in their mid-to-late 20s.