Sunday 18:53
At just before midday today Aberdeen Coastguard heard a call for help from a person claiming to be aboard a small sailing craft suffering engine difficulties. The caller gave his position as 1.5 nm from Portmahomack, a small town in the Dornoch Firth.
The vessel could not be raised again so immediately Invergordon All Weather Lifeboat and Portmahomack Coastguard Rescue team were sent to locate and assist the vessel in distress.
The rescue team arrived first and could see no trace of any vessels in the Dornoch Firth area in any direction. The team searched up and down with nothing sighted. Invergordon lifeboat arrived and began a thorough search of the area whilst attempting to raise the vessel on the radio with no success. Aberdeen Coastguard were able to get one further communication from the boat this time giving his name as the 'Tiger Lady' with two people on board and describing himself as a 16 foot sailing craft being blown onto rocks at Portmahomack.
Again, the caller did not respond to any further attempts at communication. At this point, the authenticity of the situation began to be questioned as visibility in the sheltered area was good and the sea was relatively calm with a southerly wind, it seemed unlikely that these conditions would have had such an effect on a boat.
With nothing found by the lifeboat or the team and no vessels reported missing from local harbours, it became all too clear that this be nothing more than a wild goose chase. The search for the 'Tiger Lady' continued for a further two hours before eventually being called off and put down to a hoax call.
Hayley Morden of Aberdeen Coastguard said:
"Coastguard Rescue Team members and Volunteer RNLI Lifeboat crew are on call 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to respond to incidents and so it made no difference that today is New Years Eve.
"Genuine concern was expressed for the safety of the people on board this vessel by all involved in the incident and it is unfortunate that volunteers have to be pulled away from their seasonal celebrations to waste time and resources on hoax callers.
" This makes the third prank call Aberdeen Coastguard has received in the past week."
Client ref Duty Notice 2
