Six men winched to safety after fishing boat runs aground off Burra

Six men were rescued from a fishing boat which ran aground in 40 knot winds in the early hours of this morning half a mile from Hamnavoe in Burra.

The crew of the Quiet Waters, LK 209, which hit rocks off Atla Holm and began taking on water, were winched to safety by the coastguard rescue helicopter and flown to Sumburgh Airport. No-one was injured.

Skipper Ross Christie declared a mayday and the coastguard received an initial call at 2.34 am. The coastguard helicopter and Aith lifeboat were sent to the scene.

When the helicopter arrived the vessel was lying to port with water covering the port quarter. The crew, including two men from Shetland, two from Ghana and two from the Philippines, were onboard the helicopter by 4am.

A spokeswoman for Lerwick Coastguard said the vessel was hard aground this morning but an attempt may be made later to tow her off.