Two Norwegian nationals were rescued by helicopter from their sinking yacht yesterday (7 July) around 80 miles east of the Shetland Islands.

At around 10AM, a fishing vessel, the Budding Rose, heard an urgency ‘pan pan’ call on VHF from a two person Norwegian crew on board the yacht `Serenity’ some 8 miles from their position and about 80 miles due east of the Shetland Islands.

The crew indicated that their vessel had torn sails and was taking water and they needed urgent assistance as the water level was rising steadily and their drift was significant.

The crew of the fishing vessel immediately radioed Shetland Coastguard then put out a mayday signal on VHF to alert any other vessels in the area to the plight of the yacht. There was no response and due to the worsening weather conditions, the Coastguard rescue helicopter was launched from Sumburgh whilst the fishing vessel made its way to stand by the yacht.

By midday, both people from the yacht had been winched aboard the helicopter and the fishing vessel was making an assessment on towing the yacht back to the Islands. However by 12.30pm the ‘Budding Rose’ crew reported that the vessel had sunk.

Neil Cummins, Shetland Coastguard Watch Manager said: “Both of the crew from the sunken yacht were landed back to Shetland and fortunately both were uninjured and required no medical assistance. We are extremely grateful to the crew of the ‘Budding Rose’ for all they did today and keeping us informed of developments. We are now in the process of trying to arrange some accommodation for the two stranded people overnight before they can start making arrangements for tomorrow.”