Some 17 fishermen were rescued from a sinking Spanish trawler off the southwest coast this morning.
The alarm was raised when the fishing vessel, Ortegal 3, advised the Marine Rescue Co-Ordination Centre at Valentia at that its sister ship, Ortegal 1, was sinking.
The beleaguered vessel, a 30-metre net trawler, was positioned about 320 kilometres west of Shannon at the time.
All 17 crew on board the Ortegal 1 were safely transferred from the sinking vessel to the Ortegal 3, the Coastguard confirmed this afternoon.
There were no injuries to crew and no assistance was required from the Coastguard.
The Ortegal 1 vessel is understood to have taken on water in a heavy seas, and to be "partially submerged".
An Air Corps aircraft remains in the area and will continue to monitor the situation, the Coastguard said.
South-westerly gales of force four and higher are understood to have made sea conditions in the area difficult.
