A STATELY tall ship that moored in Mounts Bay barely a week ago has foundered on the Irish coast after being driven on to rocks.
All 30 people on board the 42m Dutch vessel Astrid were rescued by RNLI lifeboats before she sank off Kinsale.
Four lifeboats were called out after the training vessel lost engine power and was driven on to rocks by a strong southerly wind at the western entrance to Kinsale Harbour on Wednesday.
Eighteen people were taken off by the Kinsale lifeboat and the other 12 were put into a life raft by the Astrid's crew and towed to calmer water by another lifeboat before being transferred to another vessel.
Irish Coast Guard helicopters from Waterford and Shannon were also summoned to the scene along with ambulances and medical personnel from Cork.
Sean O'Farrell, coxswain of the Courtmacsherry lifeboat, said: "Everyone was very fortunate. I want to praise the quick thinking of the skipper and the crew from the Astrid. They kept calm and did everything we asked. We were able to get them to safety quickly and a major tragedy was averted.
"To be able to recover 30 people was a great day – a great team effort between the RNLI lifeboats and all the vessels that came to their aid."
