A rescue operation was under way tonight to airlift a seriously injured captain off a cargo ship damaged in heavy seas to hospital in Cork.
The skipper of the Horn Cliff, a cargo ship carrying bananas and other fruit from the Caribbean, encountered a force 10 storm off the Isles of Scilly today, resulting in the captain sustaining serious injuries, Falmouth Coastguard said.
The ship is believed to have shed about 90 containers into the sea.
Two passengers on board were also hurt - one with a broken hand and another with head injuries - but these are not so serious, a spokesman said.
An RAF helicopter from RAF Chivenor in Devon is presently refuelling at Cork before attempting to airlift the captain from the ship at around 8pm tonight.
Falmouth Coastguard said the vessel also lost about 90 containers during the storm and has suffered some damage and is listing slightly but there is no danger of it sinking.
Emergency services were alerted to the situation at noon.
The Irish Coast Guard was assisting in the rescue mission and a spokesman said the captain would be brought to Cork University Hospital by the RAF.
The vessel is making a slow 200-mile journey to Cork harbour, he said.
Daniel Adamson, forecaster for MeteoGroup UK, the weather division of the Press Association, said conditions in the Irish Sea had significantly improved.
"There is snow, rain and sleet moving down through the Irish Sea, running down in a line from the north west to the south east. It's still a windy evening but it's much calmer than it was last night and earlier on today. Conditions have improved a lot.
"There will be more rain tomorrow and it will be a windy weekend, but it will be nothing like as bad as it has been."
PA