Rise in pleasure craft accidents

NEARLY one-in-three emergency calls to the Irish Coast Guard is from the rapidly increasing pleasure craft sector.

Distress calls for help from people who got into difficulty on board pleasure craft increased by 15% last year.

Operational statistics published by the State’s rescue service showed that pleasure craft accounted for around 30% of all calls.

Minister of State at the Department of Transport Pat the Cope Gallagher said while the 15% increase in pleasure craft incidents reflected the increasing numbers of people taking up water activities, it was still a worrying trend.

However, he said the statistics also showed that just one person died in a pleasure craft accident, compared to five in 2004, and that more people are wearing personal flotation devices and lifejackets.

Overall, the coast guard responded to 1,802 incidents - including 551 involving pleasure craft - compared to 1,809 in 2004.

Sadly, 63 people lost their lives in incidents in which the coast guard was assisting.

The figures also reveal a 20% increase in the number of times the service’s helicopters were called out during the year. A total of 452 helicopter call-outs were received in 2005, up from 374 in 2005.

The Irish Coast Guard responded to 75 incidents involving merchant vessels and 297 involving fishing vessels.

Their assistance was called on 26 occasions to people who got into difficulty when diving, and on 37 occasions to assist swimmers.

The service responded to 16 surfing incidents, 16 sailboard incidents and 14 canoe incidents. It was also involved in 178 incidents involving shoreline activities.

The number of hoax calls was down from 23 in 2004 to 20 in 2005

The Irish Naval Service assisted the coast guard on 33 occasions last year while the Irish Air Corps assisted on 17 occasions.