Four fishermen were rescued by Castletownbere RNLI after their 13-metre trawler struck a post and began taking on water inside the County Cork harbour late on Wednesday night.

The vessel had been travelling from Dinish Wharf to Castletownbere Harbour when it got into difficulty shortly before 8.45pm. The volunteer lifeboat crew had just returned from a routine training exercise and were tying up when they received the Mayday call.

The lifeboat launched immediately and reached the scene within two minutes. One man had taken to a life raft while three others remained on board. All four were transferred safely to the lifeboat.

A pump was placed on the trawler to try to deal with the flooding but the vessel sank within 15 minutes due to the volume of water coming in.

All four fishermen were brought safely ashore to Castletownbere Harbour.

Brendan O’Driscoll, Castletownbere RNLI launch authority, said the incident unfolded very quickly. “While we never like to see a boat sinking, we are glad that all four fishermen are safe and well and we wish them all the best following their ordeal,” he said.

“With the trawler taking on water rapidly, we are glad that we were able to be on scene as quickly as we were. We would like to commend the fishermen for having a means of communication to raise the alarm, which is always important when time is of the essence,” he added.