Scottish fishing trawler Njord capsizes off Norway leaving one dead

One person has died after a Scottish fishing vessel with eight people on board capsized off Norway.

The Norwegian Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre (NJRCC) launched a rescue operation after the alarm was raised at about 1.39pm on Sunday.

What happened to Njord?

Rescuers found the eight crew standing on the keel of the capsized vessel Njord which got into difficulty about 100 miles west of Stavanger in the North Sea.

Three people were winched into a search and rescue helicopter and were flown to Haukeland University Hospital in Bergen where one of them subsequently died.

The other five people were picked up by the Olympic Challenger, an oil industry offshore vessel, which had responded to the Mayday relay issued by rescue services calling on vessels nearby to assist.

They were later taken to Stavanger by rescue helicopter.

What’s been said?

A NJRCC spokesman said: “When we were alerted we sent out resources and found eight people standing on the keel of the capsized fishing vessel.

“Three were taken into a search and rescue helicopter and five people were picked up by boat after we issued a Mayday relay.”

The NJRCC said the vessel is registered in Lerwick in Shetland, however it reportedly left Peterhead at the weekend.

A spokeswoman for HM Coastguard said: “At 1.49pm yesterday March 6 HM Coastguard received a distress alert from an EPIRB (Emergency Positioning Indicating Radio Beacon) from a UK flagged fishing vessel.

“The EPIRB gave a position in the Norwegian search and rescue region.

“The Norwegian Coast Guard was contacted and confirmed it had also received the alert and a helicopter had been sent.

“The upturned vessel was located and all eight crew were recovered.

“Three of the crew were taken to hospital by helicopter, the other five crew members were taken on board an offshore support vessel and taken to Stavanger.”

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