Three yachtsman rescued off coast of Norway

Three men were rescued from a Shetland yacht off the west coast of Norway early this morning when she lost her mast in strong winds 50 miles west of Bergen.

A helicopter from the Statoil owned Oseberg platform plucked the men from the deck of the Indulgence as the vessel floundered in 25-30mph winds 50 miles west of Bergen. The men, believed to include part owners of the vessel Roger MacDonald and Jeffrey Ma, from Lerwick, and another man, were flown from the Indulgence to Bergen.

Stavanger Coastguard had picked up a very weak mayday call from Indulgence at 1.50am but was unable to verify the call from other vessels and coastguard stations in the area. It had received a transit record from Shetland Coastguard for Indulgence and just before 3am received an emergency beacon signal which gave them the vessel’s location.

A Stavanger Coastguard spokesman said this afternoon that the men had been flown ashore and were all fine while Indulgence was still being towed to Bergen by a Norwegian Coastguard vessel from Aalesund, while another Sea King rescue helicopter had been stood down.

Indulgence had set out from Lerwick marina early on Sunday. The Bergen Deeps is a notoriously difficult stretch of water where bad weather can spring up and just as quickly dissipate again.