A number of boat owners are counting their losses in the wake of Hurricane Nicole.

Bermuda Maritime Operations said yesterday that there were at least 27 “boat incidents” reported thus far — including vessels sunk or dashed on the rocks — but in time that figure could be much higher.

“That was just from what the Royal Bermuda Regiment saw between St David’s and Grotto Bay, plus there were the false distress alarms,” the spokesman said.

“There could be a whole lot more going on in the West End.

“We have had only one report from Riddell’s Bay, and Riddell’s Bay is full of boats.”

He noted that there were several false distress alarms during the storm due to the extreme weather, including one government boat which was out of the water at Coney Island.

“We had to resolve that one all the same,” he said.

In the peak of the storm on Thursday, winds in excess of 100 knots were reported, along with rough seas and a 6ft to 8ft storm surge, the combination of which led to a major threat to any vessels in the water.

One of the more spectacular incidents involved the commercial sports fishing boat Stealth, which was torn in half and thrown on to the rocks in Bailey’s Bay.

As of Friday, Colonial Insurance said it had yet to receive any marine claims, but it had received six vehicle claims in total.