Fishermen rescued after boat fire

THREE fishermen were rescued from a life raft yesterday after their boat caught fire off the Kerry coast.

The Coastguard Service received a Mayday call at 5.35am when a blaze broke out in the wheelhouse of the 70ft timber-hulled trawler, the Spailpeen Fáineach.

The boat, which is based in Castletownbere in West Cork, was about eight miles west of the Skelligs Rocks.

A coastguard spokesman said: “It was a major fire and the crew had to abandon the boat in a life raft.”

The Shannon-based coastguard helicopter and the Valencia lifeboat were sent to the scene.

The crew were rescued from their life raft by another fishing boat in the area, the Arianne, and then transferred to the Valentia lifeboat.

The fire on the Spailpeen Fáineach, which was still blazing, was expected to be left to burn out.