Coastguard teams scrambled to St Magnus Bay in Shetland following a report of a red flare being sent up from the water.
The flare was reported from Sandness at around 10pm on Monday but, despite searching until around 7am on Tuesday, teams could not find anyone in distress.
Coastguard teams from Walls and Hillswick carried out visual searches of the area and the bay.
The Aith lifeboat along with a local vessel carried out a waterborne search and Coastguard Rescue 900 helicopter searched from the air.
The “thorough search” found nothing, and a spokesman from Shetland coastguard said teams have no reason to believe there is someone still in danger.
He said: “Nothing untoward has been located, we’ve had no reports of anyone missing or overdue or any other indication of anyone in trouble.”
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