Ferry to rescue in harbour drama

Ferry to rescue in harbour drama

17 July 2013

A QUICK thinking ferry skipper came to the aid of a man stranded in Strangford Lough at the weekend.

Robert Anderson, skipper on the Strangford Ferry, noticed a man in the water struggling to hold on to a motorised rowing boat on Friday morning. In response, he swiftly turned the ferry away from waiting passengers at Portaferry to help the man ashore.

One of the passengers who had just disembarked from the ferry before it went on its rescue mission was Maria Noble from Strangford.

She said drivers awaiting the ferry’s return journey were startled when it suddenly moved away from the quayside well before its 10.45am departure time.

“Onlookers were puzzled until they realised what the sharp eyed ferry crew had spotted,” she said.

“A man had been struggling to drag himself up from the water into a small boat; wearied he was now clinging on to the end of the boat.

“The ferry swung round and manoeuvred close enough for the man to take a few strokes and be helped up onto the boarding ramp and the ferry returned to its berth.”

Maria said the man in trouble was not far from shore when rescued. She said she did not see how he ended up in the water but that he was clearly struggling to get back into his boat.

Photographing a group friends at the time, Maria captured the images shown.

“At first I thought maybe the ferry was leaving to get the ambulance, because if an ambulance is coming over it can turn back for it,” she said.

“The ferry stopped loading cars. I thought we were maybe standing in the way but then the ferry moved and turned itself around.

“Then I saw the man struggling to get into the boat.”

Maria said Coastguard personnel in Portaferry were coming on the scene as the man was brought to safety.

“It was good to see,” she said of the ferry crew’s rescue efforts. “It was very quick thinking.”