Fishermen saved after trawler fire

FIVE fishermen were airlifted to safety yesterday after their trawler caught fire 50 miles north west of Orkney.

The trawlermen, who were suffering from hypothermia, had been forced to take to a life raft as flames swept through their Buckie registered trawler, the Onward, in stormy seas.

They were only rescued after a signal from the boat’s EPIRB (emergency position-indicating radio beacon) was picked up at the rescue coordination centre at RAF Kinloss. No Mayday signal from the vessel had been picked up by the emergency services.

Mike Smith, a watch officer with Shetland Coastguard, said the distress alert signal from the Onward’s EPIRB had been picked up shortly after 1pm.

He said: “It was quickly identified as belonging to a fishing vessel registered in Buckie called Onward. The fishing vessel was in a position 50 miles north west of Stromness.

“We don’t know whether the crew broadcast a mayday but we didn’t pick it up. The only that we were alerted was the emergency beacon.”

Shetland Coastguard broadcast a mayday relay broadcast for assistance from any other vessels in the area and a merchant vessel, the Nautica, responded and diverted to the trawler’s last known position.

A Maritime surveillance aircraft, Watchdog 65, was also sent to the scene to report back as a Coastguard rescue helicopter from Sumburgh on Shetland was scrambled to rescue the crewmen.

Mr Smith said: “The trawler was well ablaze when the helicopter reached the scene. There were two life rafts in the sea.”