A MAN is recovering in hospital after going overboard on the ferry from Killimer on Sunday morning.
Search and rescue teams recovered the man who went overboard shortly after 9am when travelling with Shannon Ferries.
He was in the water for up to two hours before he was airlifted to University Hospital Limerick.
After the man’s location was identified on the Kerry side of the Shannon Estuary, he was winched on board the Irish Coast Guard Rescue 117 helicopter, with Ballybunion Sea and Cliff Rescue Team’s Atlantic 75 and D class rescue vessels and Kilrush RNLI lifeboat assisting in the water.
As well as the Waterford-based Rescue 117 helicopter, the extensive search and rescue operation also involved several units of lifeboats and local yachts. Assistance was provided by Kilrush RNLI, the Kilkee unit of the Coast Guard and the Ballybunion Sea and Cliff Rescue Team.
According to a spokesperson for the Irish Coast Guard, “Shortly after 9.20am, MRSC Valentia received a report that that a person had fallen overboard from the ferry. An extensive search and rescue mission was initiated immediately, involving a fleet of local vessels, Ballybunion and Kilkee Coast Guard units and Kilrush and Feniit RNLI. The casualty was located and recovered by the Coast Guard helicopter and has been transferred into the care of the HSE at Limerick University Hospital”.
