A fisherman’s life has been saved by marine distress signals after an accident in Iceland, which sadly proved fatal for a colleague.
The two fishermen were in small fishing boat which capsized off the East coast of Iceland in December. Neither had the chance to send a radio distress call.
One of them managed to free a liferaft and fire marine distress signals and handflares, which were spotted on the coast and a lifeboat saved him two or three hours later. The other fisherman sadly did not survive.
Keith Bradford, Product Manager for Pains Wessex and Comet marine distress signals, says, “The fisherman’s life was unquestionably saved, just because he was able to fire the rockets and flares.
“Like all our distress signals, our Red Handflares and Para Red Rockets are designed to withstand exceptional weather conditions and to operate even after immersion in water. That’s why Pains Wessex and Comet marine distress signals are trusted by the world’s commercial and leisure marine markets for their reliability and have been saving lives for more than a century.
“The death is particularly sad as it is Iceland’s only fatal marine accident in the past two years.”
In a similar, earlier incident, a German fisherman was rescued from chilling seas after igniting a Comet handflare.
