A diver has been rescued after spending 11 hours in the water in the Far North of Scotland.
The man, who is reported to be “conscious and in a reasonable condition”, has been taken to hospital after he was found, following a major search operation.
He was reported missing from the dive boat Fair Morn at 5.20pm on Wednesday, off Burwick in Orkney.
Shetland Coastguard co-ordinated an “extensive search” of the Pentland Firth area overnight involving RNLI lifeboats from Thurso, Longhope and Stromness and two coastguard rescue helicopters.
Shoreline searches were also carried out by Duncansby, Scrabster, Hoy and St Margarets Hope coastguard teams, while radio broadcasts were made to all vessels in the area to keep a look out for a missing diver.
At 3.15am on Thursday the crew of sail training vessel Yunyi Baltiets, which was passing through the Pentland Firth, reported it had rescued the diver from the water two miles east of Duncansby.
He was transferred to Thurso RNLI lifeboat and brought to shore and then taken to Wick Hospital on the mainland.
Gary Harris, who was co-ordinating the incident in Shetland Coastguard Operations Centre, said: “During search operations at sea, it’s incredibly challenging to spot a head in the water especially at night.
“The diver was very fortunate to be spotted by the crew on the sail training vessel Yunyi Baltiets and taken aboard safely.
“He is reported to be conscious and in a reasonable condition considering he has spent 11 hours in the water.”
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