Yacht and Crew Rescued in Rough Seas

 Sunday, October 25, 2009
Posted 06:11 GMT 

At one o,clock this morning, Shetland Coastguard received a mayday call on VHF radio from the crew of a forty foot Norwegian registered yacht called Innana.

The yacht with three onboard had been sheltering in Mill Bay on the east side of Stronsay in Orkney when they lost their first anchor and subsequently had to cut away their second to prevent further difficulty. The yacht has engine power and fuel and is able to motor.

Shetland Coastguard broadcast a mayday relay and scrambled the Coastguard helicopter from Sumburgh R102 and requested the launch of the Kirkwall RNLI lifeboat. The fisheries protection vessel Hirta responded to the Mayday broadcast and is proceeding to give assistance as required.

The weather in the area at the moment is gale force 8, gusting severe gale force 9 with rough seas.

Once the helicopter arrived, they kept the yacht under visual observation until the Kirkwall lifeboat arrived.

Whilst the Kirkwall Lifeboat was proceeding, one of the crew sustained an injury, so the coxswain made the decision to divert to the nearest harbour to evacuate their crewman. Upon arriving at the pier, a doctor attended and requested the helicopter to evacuate the injured lifeboatman to hospital. The helicopter evacuated the lifeboatman to Kirkwall airport where an ambulance took him onto hospital for further medical assessment.

The lifeboat then resumed to attend the Innana with the fisheries protection vessel Hirta also still proceeding.

Once on scene the intention is to escort this yacht and their crew into safer waters in the lee of one of the islands in daylight hours

Martin Sykes, Watch Manager, Shetland Coastguard said:
The lifeboat and the crew of the yacht Innana are currently safe at anchor in a bay and once daylight arrives a passage will be made to calmer waters for the yacht and its crew.

For further details contact:
The Maritime & Coastguard Agency Press Office
023 8032 9401