A ferryboat passenger has been rescued from Firth of Lorne between Mull Island and Oban due to the quick actions of CalMac crew.
The accident began when the passenger fell overboard from MV Isle of Mull (CalMac-owned ship) just before 2:00 p.m. during the vessel's 46-minute crossing from Craignure to Oban. The ferry left Mull at 1:30 p.m.
Image: Isle of Mull (Tobermory, Scotland)
Passengers were alerted via 3 loud blasts of the horn, followed by the announcement that a passenger was overboard. Those on the ferry's top deck were asked to pinpoint the man in the water.
The crew launched the ferry’s fast rescue craft, an inflatable boat able to be deployed fast to cope with an accident like this. Minutes later, Oban lifeboat, Trent Class All Weather Mora Edith Macdonald, was launched.
When it arrived on the scene, the man was transferred to the lifeboat and taken ashore. Stornoway's coastguard was alerted and it mobilized a Prestwick search and rescue helicopter. The man was then transferred by a waiting ambulance to Lorn and Islands Hospital outside Oban.
According to the police, he was not thought to have suffered life-threatening injuries.