AIR SEARCH FOR MAYDAY SHIP.Byline: By LUCY CHRISTIE A MASSIVE international sea search was under way last night for a ship in trouble off the Irish coast. Two RAF Nimrods from the Rescue Centre at Kinloss, Scotland, were scrambled into action following a Mayday call from an unidentified ship in the North Atlantic. Canadian rescuers picked up the faint distress call 1,100km west of the Irish coast. Last night teams were desperately searching an area of around 50km wide by 30km long to locate the missing vessel. RAF Kinloss RAF Kinloss (IATA: FSS, ICAO: EGQK) is a Royal Air Force station. It is near Kinloss, on the Moray Firth in the north of Scotland. The station is home to all of the Nimrod MR2 fleet in the Royal Air Force. spokesman Michael Mulford said: "This is a very big area to search but this is classic Nimrod Nimrod, in the Bible, descendant of Cush who is recorded as a mighty hunter. Nimrod Biblical hunter of great prowess. [O.T.: Genesis 10:9; Br. Lit.: Paradise Lost] See : Hunting maritime territory. "They have powerful radar and electronic aids to interrogate anything seen floating on the surface. Although the mayday message was somewhat garbled it may well mean that a group of sailors are in peril on the sea. "That is why all the various international agencies are using every resource available to them to find out what has happened and to rescue anyone in distress." The mayday call was received by the Canadian Rescue Co-ordination Centre at Halifax, Nova Scotia For other uses, see Halifax. Halifax, Nova Scotia may refer to any of the following:
Falmouth Coastguard later broadcast an urgent message to other ships in the area to be on the lookout. |
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