This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/scotland/north_east/8236150.stm

The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 1 Version 2
Distress signal sparks sea search Safety drill sparks major alert
(about 1 hour later)
A major air and sea search operation was launched after a vessel issued a distress signal. A sailor inadvertently triggered a full scale air and sea rescue while teaching his friend emergency radio procedures.
Shetland Coastguard received the call, which is believed to be from the Still Waters II, on Thursday morning. Shetland Coastguard picked up the brief message: "I am sinking" on Thursday from a boat called Still Waters II.
The brief distress call, which did not offer an exact location, stated: "I am sinking." A coastguard helicopter, two lifeboats and other ships in the area spent several hours looking for the vessel
The Shetland Coastguard helicopter and two lifeboats - from Lerwick and Aith - were called in to search for the vessel, off the Scalloway area. The search was called off when a man contacted them to say he had accidentally broadcast the message on the emergency channel.
Other boats that were in the area joined the hunt. Alex Dodge, from Shetland Coastguard, said the crew only realised what they had done when they heard reports of the rescue operation on the news.
The search was expected to be scaled back in the evening if nothing had been found. "They had been showing a friend how to use the radio on board and hadn't realised they had been transmitting," she said.
"On the way home they'd been listening to the radio. They heard the story about us looking for a vessel called Still Waters II and he actually phoned up and admitted to being the person involved."