A coastguard search was launched yesterday for a vessel initially thought to have been stranded in the North Sea.
The search involving the Bond Offshore Helicopters’ BP Jigsaw search and rescue (SAR) aircraft along the coast of Aberdeen was launched following the urgency call from the boat, identified as the Sharapoda – a Cornish Crabber Gaff dinghy – at 1.20pm.
There was no position on the vessel when the search was launched, meaning the coastguard had to scour a 35 mile area of sea.
Last night Aberdeen Coastguard called off the search and branded the incident as a “possible hoax”, adding that there was “nothing obvious” in the sea near Aberdeen.
He said the call was only picked up in the Aberdeen area, meaning the dinghy could “only be” in the local area.
The spokesman added: “There’s no indication apart from the urgency message that it was in distress, there’s nothing to go on.
“We talked to a lot of harbours and marinas and no one was expecting it in.
“It was an urgency call, which means the vessel wasn’t in distress, we think it was possibly a hoax.
“It was only picked up in the local area, so only ships in the local area picked it up, we have done checks and there is nothing obvious.”
The search was called off last night after around five hours of searching by Aberdeen coastguard.
Following the urgency alert, the vessel failed to follow-up the message verbally, as is required.
Several North Sea vessels were also alerted to the incident and put on standby should the coastguard require assistance with the search, which was winding down by 7pm.
The dinghy was said to be fitted with one 12ft mast and have no equipment aboard it bar one handheld radio.
The spokesman added that such occurrences were “just the job”, adding: “You don’t know if it’s a hoax at the start, you have to check it out just incase.”