Discover the Boka-Polaris: Ratings & Maritime News

On September 27, 2018, the Coastguard's SAR helicopter, Rescue 900, was urgently dispatched to perform a medical evacuation aboard the vessel 'Bibby Polaris'. The Coastguard operations center in Shetland received a distress call at 9:15 a.m. indicating that a crew member required immediate medical assistance while the ship was situated approximately 100 nautical miles southeast of the Shetland Isles. The helicopter, chartered from Sumburgh, swiftly navigated to the scene and successfully airlifted the ailing crew member. After the rescue, the patient was transported to the Clickimin landing site and subsequently taken to the Gilbert Bain Hospital in Lerwick for further treatment.

The remains of the Super Puma helicopter that tragically ditched off Sumburgh Head are scheduled to be unloaded from the Bibby Polaris in Lerwick Harbour on the night of August 29. After five days of arduous searching for crucial components, including the elusive black box flight data recorder and the missing tail section, the vessel is anticipated to arrive at Shetland's primary harbor around 10 p.m. This operation marks a significant step in the recovery efforts related to the incident, as investigators seek to uncover the causes surrounding the aircraft's unfortunate crash.

Aboard the Bibby Polaris, investigators are tirelessly working to locate the elusive black box data recorder from a tragic helicopter crash that occurred on August 23, 2023, in the North Sea. The unfortunate accident led to the deaths of four oil workers who were aboard the CHC-operated Super Puma AS332 L2 helicopter, which went down as it neared Sumburgh airport on the southern end of Shetland. Since the incident, salvage experts have employed advanced sonar technology to pinpoint the missing data recorder, believed to be situated within the aircraft's detached tail section. The recovery of this crucial device is pivotal, as it holds vital information that may clarify the circumstances surrounding the helicopter's emergency ditching. Once successfully retrieved, the black box will be sent to the Air Accidents Investigation Branch in Farnborough, Hampshire, for thorough analysis and examination, paving the way for a deeper understanding of the events leading up to this unfortunate incident.