A 41-year-old sailor of Philippine nationality was evacuated by an Armed Forces of Malta helicopter yesterday from the tanker ship Dubai Legend after seriously injuring his hand while working.

The AFM Rescue Coordination Centre received a call from the ship informing it of the accident at around 3.25pm and an Alouette III helicopter was dispatched from the AFM Air Wing, with three crew members on board shortly after to evacuate the casualty for medical attention.

Upon arriving over the ship, that was equipped with a helicopter landing area, the crew of the helicopter deemed that landing on the vessel would be too dangerous due to the large amount of piping in the landing area. A rescuer was then winched down to the vessel and assisted the casualty in being taken aboard the helicopter again via winch. The helicopter then flew the casualty directly to St Luke’s Hospital for medical treatment. The crew of the AFM helicopter were: Pilot Captain Michael Farrugia, aircraft technician Bombardier Carmeno Psaila, and rescuer Lance Bombardier Stanley Chircop.