Man falls overboard near Aberdeen

A major search has been launched for a man who fell overboard from a boat off the coast of Aberdeen.

A helicopter and 11 vessels, including lifeboats, tugs and commercial ships, responded to the incident which was reported at around 2am today.

Th coastguard said the search was focused south east of Aberdeen, near Girdle Ness Lighthouse.

Two lifeboats from Aberdeen and a Bond offshore helicopter are leading the search.

It is not known if the man was wearing a life jacket.

Matt Leat, the coastguard’s maritime operations controller, said: “There is an extensive search of the area going on.

“Police Scotland has also been made aware.”