Buoy mistaken for man overboard on Stromness ferry

Reports of a man overboard from mv Hamnavoe as the ferry made its way to Scrabster this morning turned out to be a false alarm with good intent.

The alarm was raised at around 9.30am this morning, close to the west coast of Hoy, near St John’s Head and the Old Man of Hoy.

The ferry conducted searches assisted by the RNLI lifeboat from Stromness.

Following these searches, it was established that the person had actually seen a buoy.

An HM Coastguard spokesman said: “At around 9.30am this morning, HM Coastguard was made aware of reports of a man overboard from a ferry in waters off Orkney.

“A search was conducted by the ferry and the RNLI Stromness lifeboat, and it was determined that the person had seen a buoy in the water.

“The search was subsequently stood down.”

The Hamnavoe continued its passage to Scrabster, while the lifeboat returned to Stromness.