Two men died and one was seriously injured in an accident on board a gas-oil tanker hit by a violent storm about 140 miles north-west of the Mayo coast yesterday.
It is understood three crewmen were trying to lash survival rafts in the heavy weather when they were washed across the deck by 10 metre waves. One man died instantly, one had his leg amputated and the third sustained serious head injuries. He died of those injuries at 5 p.m. yesterday.
The Irish Coast Guard Sikorsky helicopter battled Force 11 north-west winds to reach the 65,000-tonne Panamanian-registered tanker, Princess Eva, following the alert by Clyde Coastguard.
The crewmate whose leg was amputated was winched off the ship by winchman Mr Neville Murphy in highly dangerous weather conditions with a nine-metre swell and was flown to University College Hospital, Galway (UCHG). He was in a critical condition and expected to be transferred to intensive care last night.
"The Shannon-based Irish Coast Guard helicopter crew deserve praise for a fantastic job in atrocious weather with 30ft waves hitting the ship," a Malin Head Coast Guard spokesman told The Irish Times.
The dramatic rescue was piloted by Capt Robert Goodbody and co-piloted by Capt Tony O'Mahony. Mr Eamonn Burns was the winch operator. The ship was en route from Denmark to Corpus Christi, Texas, with an Argentinian crew.
Clyde Coastguard received an emergency call from the vessel about 140 miles north-west of Eagle Island, Co Mayo, shortly before 1 p.m. and tasked the Shannon helicopter.
A maritime patrol aircraft was also launched to provide cover for the winching.
It was confirmed last night that the Princess Eva was heading to McSwyne's Bay in Donegal, with the two dead crewmen, who were senior ship's officers, on board. The ship was due to dock there this morning.
No damage to the vessel was reported, but the Irish authorities are expected to interview the ship's master regarding the tragedy.
In another incident, a car ferry carrying 407 cars fell foul of the high winds and ran aground in Rosslare Harbour yesterday. The Sea Hamex was experiencing difficulties manoeuvring into a berth when a rough squall of wind 40 or 50 knots pushed it on to rocks between two berths.
"Our main concern at the moment is prevention of any pollution from the ship," the Harbourmaster, Capt Aedan Jameson, said.
"The ship isn't damaged, but a pollution plan is in place. We're proposing to refloat her around 11 a.m."
A tug boat and two very powerful fishing boats will pull the 1,600-tonne vessel into a berth.
The Malta-registered ship had arrived from Le Havre, France.
Warnings of very rough or high sea conditions with heavy swells in western and south-western sea areas for the next 36 hours were issued by Met Éireann.