A five-year-old boy with suspected appendicitis was airlifted from an oil tanker and brought to Bermuda for medical treatment yesterday.

Bermuda Maritime Operations Centre received an emergency call about the child just before 11 p.m. on Sunday, when the Bahamian-registered Axel Spirit was 250 nautical miles east of here.

A duty officer told The Royal Gazette yesterday: "In consultation with the US Coast Guard flight surgeon, the decision was taken to airlift the child to Bermuda for hospitalisation."

A C-130 aircraft and an HH-60 helicopter were sent from Elizabeth City, North Carolina, to rendezvous with the ship and the child and his parents, all Indian nationals, were safely airlifted onto the helicopter.

The aircraft landed at L.F. Wade International Airport just before 1.45 p.m yesterday, where an ambulance was waiting to take the boy to King Edward VII Memorial Hospital.

The family were travelling as "supernumeraries" — i.e. non-crew members — on board the Axel Spirit on its way from Sidi Kerir, Egypt, to Paulsboro, New Jersey. The 63,000 ton ship, carrying Arabian light crude oil, continued on its journey.

A KEMH spokeswoman said last night she could not provide an update on the child's condition.