Seven taken ashore after Shetland coastguard rescue

Seven people have been brought ashore safely following an overnight rescue operation when their yacht began taking in water, the coastguard said.
Picture: PAPicture: PA
Picture: PA

People aboard the Norwegian boat, which was sailing north-east of Orkney, alerted the authorities at around 10.50pm last night.

They had telephoned the Norwegian coastguard, and messages were then relayed to coastguards in Aberdeen and Shetland.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

A fishing vessel in the area managed to communicate with the stricken boat after the coastguards in Scotland found the yacht crews’ mobile phones kept cutting out.

Shetland coastguard launched the Kirkwall lifeboat, which towed the yacht back to Orkney through the night.

The boats came ashore this morning, a coastguard spokesman said.

He said: “The lifeboat got out there, confirmed that they were reasonably OK, and took them in tow.

“They got into Kirkwall at around 6.45am this morning.”

The spokesman added that the leak had been at the boat’s stern, near the propeller.

Those on board had managed to pump some of the water out, but the leak was “enough to be a concern”, he said.