The tragedy to hit the seas around Bermuda yesterday was not the first, and is unlikely to be the last.

Over the years, the Island has seen a number of high sea dramas, some of which have taken lives and left devastation in their wake.

Among them is the incident where fishermen John Riley, Kenneth Thompson and Harry Arorash were lost at sea in 1981 and were never found. They had left Ely's Harbour in Somerset to go fishing, and never returned. The search to find them was fruitless and eventually called off.

Brothers Randy (Scorcher) Outerbridge, 30, and Jeffrey (Jakes) Outerbridge, 25, and their friend Geaige Minks, 26, were heading towards Challenger Banks on a fishing trip when they last contacted Harbour Radio, on January 26, 1993.

Their boat, a 21-foot Cutty Cabin Simply Red was found at sea, but the crew were never found.

Teenagers Andre Whitter and Dijuan Simons were lost at sea in a 16-foot Boston Whaler for around two weeks. They had gone out with Kenneth Wilson who died at sea. The teenagers were rescued by a Greek shipping liner in September of 1989.

In May of 1993, the Ocean Vagabond yacht sank, leaving one crew member dead and four floundering at sea. They were eventually rescued by the Zuno yacht, which had stopped in Bermuda and had left a day after them.

Another yachtsman, this time on the Wailua, lost his life during the same week of May in 1993 as he attempted to climb aboard a cargo ship.

In December 2001, just off St. David's, US parajumper Sgt. Doug Eccleston drowned while rescuing a sick crewman off a Malaysian tanker.

Sgt. Eccleston's inflatable raft capsized after he had successfully treated a medical emergency.

Locals Clare Spearing and Derek Davis were 700 miles from the Azores on the Raske when they went adrift at sea with no steering, communications or electric, and with Tropical Storm Arlene in the vicinity. The crew were rescued by the MV Argonaut, an American-flagged cargo ship.

In early 2000, local woman, Jacinta Baptiste, was rescued by a Royal Navy destroyer off Puerto Rico when the 148 foot motor yacht Shira Lee she was on sunk.

On the first day of this year, Captain Kirk Parris and his brother-in-law Sloan Paul Wakefield ran into trouble while search for the abandoned yacht Altair - the same boat Bobby Lambe and his crew were looking for when they capsized this week.

They were about 54 miles north east of North Rock when their engine overheated. Two other Bermudian fishermen had to be rescued when their 22-foot boat, Jean Paul, broke down off Dockyard. Darren Hayward and Kenneth Simmons were towed to shore by the Tamalorne 11.