Rescue crew saves stranded divers after boat breaks down

Kyle RNLI was called to rescue nine divers, after their boat suffered a mechanical failure.

The divers had been in Loch Alsh, near Skye, when the boat broke down, drifting away from the divers on Saturday morning.

The Kyle lifeboat, Spirit of Fred Olsen, launched at 11.55am after the dive master called for assistance.

When the lifeboat arrived on scene two minutes after launching, a few of the divers had already surfaced and were being assisted by nearby vessels.

Three of the divers were alongside the SD Raasay, but due to the size of the vessel were unable to get onboard.

The lifeboat picked the divers out of the water and transferred them onto the larger vessel, before going to assist another member of the group who had just surfaced.

The fishing vessel Helen Bruce picked up another three divers and transferred them onto the SD Raasay whilst the lifeboat went to search for the remaining two who were still underwater.

A short while later, the final members of the diving party surfaced and were picked up by the lifeboat.

The SD Raasay took some of the group back to Kyle, whilst the lifeboat towed the broken down boat back to Kyleakin before returning to the lifeboat station at 1:45pm.

A Kyle RNLI spokesperson says: ‘The diving party had just purchased their new dive boat and were extremely well equipped, however unfortunately they were extremely unlucky and the boat suffered a severe mechanical failure which left it completely disabled in the water.

“Due to the swift action of the Dive Master calling for assistance early, the entire group were all recovered quickly and safely.”