A seaman reported to have lost a foot in an accident onboard a cargo ship was airlifted to Bermuda to be flown to the United States at the weekend.

A US Coast Guard Hercules plane from Elizabeth City, North Carolina, accompanied a Coastguard helicopter on the rescue mission, which was coordinated by Harbour Radio.

The drama began on Saturday morning when Harbour Radio received information that the 45-year-old chief officer of the US-registered Chesapeake Bay had suffered a severe foot injury.

The 31,900 ton bulk carrier was travelling from the Suez Canal to North Carolina when the accident occurred.

The C130 Hercules and the helicopter flew to the Island in mid-afternoon on Saturday to re-fuel then flew out to rendezvous with the ship around 200 miles east of Bermuda about 10.30 p.m.

The chief officer was in a stable condition and alert, but under a heavy pain-killer when he was winched aboard the helicopter around 10.30 p.m. and flown back to Bermuda shortly after midnight.

The seaman, an American citizen, was taken by ambulance to the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital, and was scheduled to be flown out to the George Washington Memorial Hospital in Washington D.C. by air ambulance last night.

The duty officer at Harbour Radio said the chief officer had a severe foot injury, but could not confirm a news report that the man lost a foot. "The operation went very smoothly,'' he added.

A Coast Guard spokesman in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, said: "We had to make sure a helicopter got from North Carolina to Bermuda to land, got some gas and go out East of Bermuda to effect the hoisting of the chief officer.''