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News / Norse sailors in North sea rescue

The crew of the Dragens Vinge arrive safely at Lerwick landing base. Pic. Garry Sandison

A GROUP of latter day Vikings from Norway were rescued from a liferaft by Shetland coastguard after a huge wave swamped their traditional sailing boat on Monday afternoon.

The seven experienced seamen had joined forces to sail the 40 foot Dragens Vinge across the North Sea when the wave struck 50 miles east of Shetland, throwing them into the sea.

Wearing lifejackets and survival suits, they managed to set off an emergency locator beacon and climb into their six foot square liferaft.

The coastguard in Stavanger picked up the call soon after 4pm, contacting Shetland coastguard who broadcast a Mayday and launched the rescue helicopter from Sumburgh.

An hour later they helicopter crew found the men packed into the liferaft and by 6pm had delivered them to Lerwick’s Gilbert Bain Hospital where they were treated for mild hypothermia before being released to spend the night at The Shetland Hotel.

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Shetland coastguard winchman Mark Hughes said the sea was rough with 35-40 knot winds when they found the men, who were “looking pretty scared”.

He said: “They are very lucky, the emergency beacon probably helped to save their lives today.”

The boat’s owner Egil Rossavik said that they were all well trained sailors and were testing out a new sail when the weather turned rougher than forecast.

“It is a traditional boat with a square sail and this big wave just dropped into the boat and filled it up. We were all sitting in our survival suits and we just said go!” Mr Rossavik said.

Fellow sailor Terje Andreasson added: “We were trying out a new sail. It was not very much wind but it was very big waves and we didn’t think the forecast was exactly what we expected.“The conditions were not the same as the forecast but we decreased our sail as much as possible and the sailing went very well – it was sailing at about seven or eight knots and suddenly we got hit by a very big wave that filled up the boat and it was over.”

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They squeezed onto the liferaft and spent the next hour trying to make themselves as comfortable as possible until help arrived.

“It was wet and people got sea sick. It was dense with seven people in the liferaft, but the atmosphere was very good, there was no kind of panic,” Mr Andreasson said.

He added that they had been relieved to see the coastguard helicopter and were treated very well by their rescuers.

Shetland’s Norwegian consul John Goodlad helped the men find accommodation, food and warm clothing after they were released from hospital on Monday evening.

Mr Goodlad said they all appeared to be competent seamen from different parts of Norway who had set sail from a small island two hours south of Bergen.

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“I think they have all done quite a bit of sailing in this boat and they were going to make a trip across the North Sea. Most of the way it was super sailing. They had gale force winds but there was still no cause for concern until they were swamped by a rogue wave.”

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Have you considered becoming a member of Shetland News?

If you appreciate what we do and feel strongly about impartial local journalism, then please consider paying for membership and get the following features and services: -

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