This morning, a member of the public found an abandoned Search And Rescue Transponder (SART) while out walking in the town centre. This SART was handed to one of the Skerries Coast Guard volunteers, who with the assistance of the Coast Guard’s marine rescue coordination centre (MRCC) traced it to a local fishing trawler currently berthed at Skerries harbour.
These SARTs are an essential piece of marine safety equipment and are used by a vessel when in distress and in need of assistance. Local Gardai are investigating the removal of this SART from the vessel.
Skerries Coast Guard made contact with the owner and it appears that the SART may have been recently stolen from the trawler and discarded on wasteland. The SART was safely returned to the ower later in the day.
Incident # 15 of 2009