From the BBC website:
Two men have died and a third has been airlifted to hospital after being hit by a huge wave on an oil tanker in the Pentland Firth.
The incident happened after the tanker FR8 Venture left Scapa Flow, Orkney, heading for Texas in the US, in "horrendous" weather conditions.
The third man is in a serious condition in Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.
Northern Constabulary has launched an investigation. Officers have boarded the tanker to carry out enquiries.
The wave struck the men as they stood on the deck of the tanker, which turned back after the incident.
The alarm was raised at 1240 GMT on Saturday when the Singapore-registered tanker contacted Shetland Coastguard to report that three crewmen had been injured.
Winched on board
A coastguard rescue helicopter from Stornoway was scrambled to assist and Longhope RNLI lifeboat was launched with a doctor on board. The doctor was winched on board the vessel, but found that two of the crew had died. The third was taken to hospital in the coastguard helicopter.
The coastguard said the tanker had entered the Pentland Firth when the wave came over its bow.
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Neil Cummins, watch manager at Shetland Coastguard, said conditions at the time had been "horrendous". "There were westerly winds of force eight to force 10, that's somewhere around 60mph, very heavy seas and a high swell," he said. "The vessel is 42,000 gross tonnes, a very large crude oil carrier, and it took the wave over the bow. The three men working on the front end were hit by it. The ship has now returned to an anchorage in the Orkney islands in Scapa Flow."
He said the helicopter and lifeboat crew had worked in extreme weather conditions to save the life of the third crewman.
The tanker, which had taken on crude oil from another vessel before heading for Houston in Texas, has now returned to Scapa Flow.
That had to have been an awful thing to witness. I can't imagine being out in the waters when the conditions are like that. Very scary. My prayers go out to the families. Tina
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