Kirkwall lifeboat called out to two false alarms

Two callouts attended overnight by Kirkwall RNLI have been confirmed as false alarms.

Both shouts were in response to reports that someone had entered the water, firstly at the Hatston Pier and secondly at a vessel to the northeast of Shapinsay.

An RNLI spokeswoman said: “Kirkwall RNLI were tasked yesterday evening (Thursday) at 10pm to reports of someone in the water near the pier at Hatston.

“However, the crew were stood down shortly after being informed it was a false alarm with good intent.

“The volunteer crew were then paged again at 1:31am this morning (Friday) to reports of a man overboard northeast of Shapinsay.

“When on the scene, the lifeboat was requested to standby and were then informed it was a false alarm with good intent.

“The crew returned to the station at around 2:52am.”