Kilkeel RNLI's recently commissioned all-weather lifeboat launched to assist two sailors in difficulty near St John's Point late on Friday night, less than five hours after it was formally declared operational.

The Shannon-class vessel, which cost one million pounds and arrived in Kilkeel in December, had officially entered service at 7pm. Its volunteer crew had completed months of intensive training for the rollout.

Shortly before midnight, two sailors in separate vessels ran into trouble in close proximity. Newcastle RNLI was initially tasked with responding to a yacht that had run aground and was taking on water on the western side of St John's Point lighthouse. As conditions worsened, Belfast Coastguard also called out the Kilkeel lifeboat.

Newcastle's Atlantic-class boat, itself in service only six months, searched in darkness with strong winds and 1.5-metre waves. The crew located the yacht drifting in shallow water towards rocks on Minerstown beach and evacuated the yachtsman. He was cold and exhausted, received casualty care onboard, and was later transferred to the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service and taken to hospital for overnight observation. The yacht was found beached in Dundrum Inner Bay the next morning.

A second 999 call came from another sailor who was disorientated and unable to make way. Kilkeel's lifeboat was diverted and found the exhausted sailor a short distance offshore, with the yacht at risk of being blown towards shore in a strong south-easterly wind. A crew member was transferred to the yacht to establish a towrope, and the vessel was brought safely into Kilkeel Harbour at 5am.

Newcastle and Kilkeel Coastguard rescue teams assisted at both stations. Kilkeel RNLI Coxswain Afloat Mechanic Gerald Sharkey said he wished both sailors well after their ordeal.