Sunday 05.09.04

Lifeboat takes ill passenger from Cruise Liner

 A 60 year old U.S. citizen was evacuated from a 250 metre cruise liner off the West Cork Coast this morning.

Castletownbere’s RNLI lifeboat “Annette Hutton” responded to its second call out this weekend when it was tasked just after 7.00 a.m. this morning to undertake a medical evacuation.  The Bahamas based liner “Jewel of  the Sea”, with 2,879 persons on board, was on passage from London to Portland , Maine and was four days into her voyage. The woman, who took ill last night, needed to be hospitalised immediately with a serious medical condition.

The lifeboat, under command of 2^nd Coxswain M. Martin-Sullivan, and Crew B.Gonnelly, P. Stevens, P. O’Conor, P. O’Driscoll, M. Cronin, J.T. O’Sullivan and D. Murphy, launched in thick fog at 7.16 a.m. and met the cruise liner just 18 miles south of Castletownbere harbour.

The lifeboat was manoevered  alongside the liner in relatively calm conditions and the casualty was transferred by stretcher. Once she and her husband were made comfortable in board, the lifeboat proceeded back to Castletownbere and was met by ambulance at 9.05 a.m. whereupon the woman was transferred to Bantry Hospital .

Lifeboat Operations Manager Tony O’Sullivan commented “This is the second call out for our new lifeboat in the last two days, and she is most definitely proving her worth in terms of speed and performance.”

ENDS

Sunday 05.09.04     11.20 a.m.