Three sailors were forced to abandon ship after a fire erupted on their sailboat.

According to the Bermuda Maritime Operations Centre, RCC Bermuda received a call from the US Coastguard in Norfolk, Virginia on Saturday morning to warn them that the Wooden Heart, a sailboat with three people on board, had been disabled by an on-board fire which occurred 240 nautical miles north of Bermuda.

The Canadian-registered ship, which was en route to Bermuda, was abandoned while the crew were safely picked up by the merchant vessel AM Zenica which was travelling to Croatia.