Stricken yacht towed to safety Lerwick lifeboat

A stricken trimaran yacht was towed into Lerwick harbour today by the lifeboat after she suffered mast damage and was left without sufficient fuel to make land.

The Norwegian vessel, Epoksy, which had two people on board, got into difficulty on Thursday night at around 8pm. Lerwick lifeboat was scrambled in the early hours to assist when an offshore supply vessel which had been towing it lost its connection and could not get the line back aboard.

Epoksy only had fuel for up to 12 hours and when the tow rope to the supply vessel broke it was unable to start its engine again.

A coastguard spokesman said the yacht was around 100 miles south-east of Lerwick at the time, much further out to sea than is the norm for a lifeboat callout. She reached Lerwick shortly after 3pm.