Search for man (50s) who fell from yacht off Waterford coast continues

Sarah Slater

The search for a man in his 50s reported to have fallen overboard from a yacht off the Co Waterford coast on Saturday night continues this afternoon.

The rescue began when an alert was raised by another man, believed to be related to the missing man, who was still on board the UK registered vessel. Both men are understood to be from Wales.

The operation was launched after the Coast Guard received an emergency call from the man on board the vessel who reported the incident at around 10:40pm.

The UK Coast Guard was also contacted after the man said they believed the vessel was off the coast of Swansea in Wales.

However, the Irish Coast Guard situated the vessel off the coast of Ceann Heilbhic in Co Waterford. The yacht was located 16 nautical miles off the South of Dunmore East in the Irish Sea.

The yacht was travelling from Brighton to Swansea via Falmouth.

Waterford based Coast Guard Rescue Helicopter 117 carried out searches on Saturday night, assisted by a fixed wing aircraft from the UK, and the RNLI lifeboats from Dunmore East in Waterford and Ballycotton, Co Cork. Coast Guard Rescue Helicopter 116 based out of Dublin joined the search operation on Sunday.

The man aboard the yacht was taken safely to shore by search and rescue teams.

A spokesperson for the The Marine Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) confirmed that the Coast Guard are continuing to coordinate the search for the missing man.

“The Coast Guard Coordination centre in Dublin resumed the search this morning for a missing Male having gone overboard from a UK registered yacht late on Saturday night,” the spokesperson continued.

The Coast Guard helicopter R117 and Kilmore Quay lifeboat are conducting the search this morning into the afternoon and the Coast Guard will continue to liaise with An Garda Siochana for the remaining phase of the search.