Thirty people have been rescued from a tall ship which ran aground off the south coast of Ireland today, just two weeks after it visited Dover Harbour.

Some of the crew who were on board the Dutch ship Astrid when she moored in Dover Harbour earlier this month are believed to have still been on board the ship when it hit rocks near the Sovereign Islands today as it attempted to enter the harbour near Kinsale, County Cork. They may include a man from Thanet.

A major air sea rescue was launched involving four RNLI lifeboats and two Irish Coastguard rescue helicopters.

The RNLI said 18 crew members had been rescued and were being taken to shore on a lifeboat.

The remaining 12 crew members were taken aboard a second tall ship.

The Astrid started breaking up soon after the last crew member was taken off, and then sank.

When they were in Dover, the crew were given a tour of the area by local tourism volunteer Horace Holyer, who took them on a walk to the South Foreland lighthouse at St Margaret's, and through the moats on Dover's Western Heights.

Built in 1918 as a lugger, Astrid carried cargo until 1975 on the Baltic Sea. Following a devastating fire, she was overhauled in the 1980s and became a sail training ship before being converted into a luxury sailing vessel in 2000.

The ship, which could accommodate up to 45 passengers, took groups of aspiring sailors on training voyages.