Six fishermen were rescued after their scallop boat broke down in the middle of the night.
The crew of the 25m beam trawler raised the alarm at 2.50am after a rope became entangled around a propeller disabling it just off the Kish Bank in the Irish Sea.
Dun Laoghaire RNLI battled force nine gales and 4m (12ft) waves to reach the boat 12 miles south-east of Howth Head by about 4am.
Duty coxswain David Branigan said numerous attempts were made to successfully attach a tow line.
“Our lifeboat crew deserve full credit for their efforts in the early hours of this morning which have seen us spend some eight hours at sea,” he said.
“We launched in the darkness and were met by difficult weather.
“The high winds and rough seas made this call out particularly challenging especially when establishing and keeping a tow but we persevered and thankfully were able to return the fishermen and their vessel safely to shore.”
The lifeboat and trawler arrived safely to shore at 10.40am, despite winds gusting to 50 knots and a towline being lost three times.
