A major international rescue effort is underway to airlift a badly injured seaman from a ship in the Atlantic Ocean.
The operation is being handled by RAF Kinloss and involves two US Army long-range helicopters, a Hercules aircraft and an aircraft tanker from the US airbase at Lakenheath in Suffolk.
An RAF Nimrod is providing air cover and communications.
The sailor was seriously injured in a 40ft fall on board the Anna Rickmers, 500 miles off the west coast of Ireland.
The Burmese man has suffered spinal and cranial injuries, and was urgently in need of expert medical care, according to the Maritime and Coastguard Agency.
It added that a doctor from Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth was put in touch with the ship's crew and gave advice on how to stabilise the injured man.
Emergency services were alerted to the incident on the 28,000-tonne cargo ship last
night.
But rescue efforts are hampered by the vessel's distance from the coast.
The spokesman for the emergency services said: "We had an issue with how we pick somebody up from 600 miles off the coast.
"It is out of the scope of most rescue helicopters."
Sky News, 8:26pm UK, Wednesday December 10, 2008
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