A sailboat captain with a head injury and two stranded vessels kept Bermuda Maritime Operations Centre staff busy yesterday.

The most serious call came in just after 3.30 p.m., when three crew members on the Italian-registered Mi Reina reported their captain had suffered a head injury from a falling mast.

“They were quite panicked about it, there was obviously lots of blood, and they were calling for some kind of immediate medical help,” said a duty officer for the centre.

The 76-foot sailing vessel was around 26 nautical miles north-east of the east end of the Island at the time, having left Bermuda yesterday morning bound for the Azores.

Two Marine Police boats were despatched to the scene, with one carrying emergency medical technicians from the hospital, and arrived at 4.51 p.m. A Police officer gave first aid to the captain with advice from the EMTs on the other boat. His condition was not judged to be life-threatening and he was taken by ambulance to hospital when the Mi Reina arrived back in St. George’s at 5.30 p.m, according to the duty officer.

Earlier in the afternoon, the centre took a report from a 21-foot powerboat, the Savvy, which was disabled one nautical mile north east of Kitchen Shoal Beacon off the east end of the Island with two people on board. A sports fishing vessel, Reel Wide, towed her back to her mooring.

A further stranded powerboat, the Mari>, was brought back in from off Spanish Point by a jetski from Spanish Point Boat Club.