A helicopter from the Icelandic Coast Guard winched five members of a BBC film crew to safety yesterday, after their boat got into difficulties around the Westfjörds.
The boat lost engine power and started taking on water just north of Hornstrandir, in far northwest Iceland, leading the crew to request help from the coast guard. Two boats from Icelandic Search and Rescue joined the helicopter at the scene, and other boats in the area were alerted to the situation in case further assistance was required.
A fishing boat based in Ísafjörður started towing the stricken vessel back to port, a task which was then taken over by one of the search and rescue ships. The helicopter took the rescued crew back to land, and no injuries were reported according to mbl.is. The coast guard have released a video from the operation, shown below.
Iceland has no navy, but security operations in territorial waters are carried out by the coast guard, (Landhelgisgæsla Íslands). On marine rescue operations such as this they work alongside the Icelandic Search and Rescue organisation, (Slysavarnafélagið Landsbjörg), which is a volunteer organisation currently funded as a charity.
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