Search continues for man missing in North Sea

Rescue helicopters, lifeboats and commercial vessels are continuing a large-scale search for a man reported missing from a North Sea ferry.

The 22-year-old went missing from the Shetland to Aberdeen overnight ferry shortly before 6.30am today.

The last confirmed sighting of him on NorthLink's MV Hjaltland was at 4am, meaning the search is covering an extensive area off the north-east coast of Scotland.

Aberdeen Coastguard is co-ordinating the operation which involves two lifeboats, an RAF helicopter from Lossiemouth and a coastguard helicopter from Shetland.

Around a dozen commercial boats are also combing the area to try to find the missing man.

Earlier the ferry, carrying around 160 passengers, retraced its route to help with the search but it has since docked at Aberdeen.

A coastguard spokesman said: "We got the call at 6.23am this morning from the overnight ferry the Hjaltland, the Shetland to Aberdeen ferry. She was approaching Aberdeen at the time and reported a passenger on board missing.

"That person had last been seen at 4am. A search of the vessel confirmed they weren't on board.

"We launched a search and rescue operation. It's (over) a fairly large area."

The search is focused on a long, thin stretch of water on the ferry route from just north of Aberdeen up to Rattray Head, between Peterhead and Fraserburgh.

The spokesman said: "We're still ongoing with the search in much the same area. We have now two lifeboats and a helicopter working the search and we have about a dozen other commercial vessels assisting in the search."

The RAF helicopter from Lossiemouth and the coastguard helicopter from Shetland have been taking turns to search.

The ferry was getting close to Aberdeen when it raised the alarm.

In a statement, the ferry operator said: "NorthLink Ferries can confirm that the Hjaltland arrived back into Aberdeen at 11.45am today. The ferry was turned back to assist the coastguard with a search for a passenger reported missing from the vessel this morning.