Saturday morning after suffering a heart attack at sea.

Harbour Radio received a medical emergency call from the Huta Zgoda , en route from Florida to Ireland, at about 7 a.m. on Saturday.

A plan to drop off jumper cables for the 56-year-old man was scrapped due to weather conditions in the Atlantic, a Harbour Radio spokesman said.

A US Navy helicopter was launched at 8 a.m. and rendezvoused with the ship 75 miles southwest of Gibb's Hill Lighthouse.

The sick crewman was winched up in a stretcher and the helicopter returned to Bermuda about 10 a.m.

The man was last night listed by the hospital in critical but stable condition, a Harbour Radio spokesman said.