The Genesis (file picture). Photo: Gordon Macrae
Article updated: Friday 2 October 2026, 08:16 IST
All 17 people on board were airlifted to safety after the longliner hit rocks off Orkney on Thursday. She remains aground.
Seventeen people were rescued from a 30-metre fishing vessel that ran aground at the base of the Old Man of Hoy, Orkney, early on Thursday 1 October. No injuries were reported.
The vessel has been named locally as the Spanish-owned, UK-registered fishing vessel GENESIS.
The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) said HM Coastguard received a report just after 6.30am that a fishing vessel with 17 people on board had gone aground and needed immediate assistance. The vessel sent out a Mayday asking for help to evacuate those on board.
The Stromness lifeboat, Violet Dorothy and Kathleen, was quickly on the scene, according to the RNLI. The NorthLink ferry Hamnavoe, which had left Stromness a few minutes earlier for Scrabster, put her fast launch in the water and stood by the casualty alongside the lifeboat.
HM Coastguard helicopters from Sumburgh and Stornoway were sent, along with the Kirkwall and St Margaret’s Hope Coastguard Rescue Teams. Two other local vessels also responded, as did a maritime patrol aircraft from the Royal Air Force.
All 17 people were airlifted to safety by the helicopter from Stornoway and taken to Kirkwall, where Police Scotland and the Scottish Ambulance Service were waiting. Local reports say everyone was assessed and discharged at the scene.
Local reports say the 30-metre longliner was heading for Scrabster with 28 tonnes of fish on board when she grounded off the west coast of Hoy. Her captain, Alejandro Abuin Prado, has thanked the rescuers and said he feared she might capsize after striking the rocks, according to local reports.
HM Coastguard’s Emergency Towing Vessel Ievoli Black was on scene on Thursday and remained there on Friday morning to provide safety cover in case the vessel refloats. She remains aground. The HM Coastguard Counter Pollution team is continuing to monitor the situation closely until the vessel’s owners arrange recovery. The RNLI earlier said a tug was due from Orkney to assess whether she could be refloated.
The cause of the grounding has not been confirmed.
Sources: RNLI; Maritime and Coastguard Agency; HM Coastguard; The Orcadian; STV News. Photo: Gordon Macrae.
