Bermuda Maritime Operations Centre (BMOC) helped locate a distressed sailor thanks to information on its database on Tuesday night.

According to a spokesman, it was notified of a mayday call from a 36 foot sailing vessel named Seannine around 350 nautical miles off Halifax, Nova Scotia.

The information had been relayed from the Canadian coastguard and a staff member at BMOC - remembering the unusual name from a past incident - was able to provide details about the vessel from the Bermuda database that aided the search.

An aircraft eventually found it with a lone seaman on board suffering from cuts and mild hypothermia. He was winched off for treatment.

The spokesman said it is believed that the man, who was en route from Fairhaven in Massachusetts to the Azores, got into difficulties due to a tropical storm in the area.

According to past news reports, the same vessel was the subject of a search and rescue case in Bermuda in October 2003 when it went unreported after departing from Fairhaven, Massachusetts on September 23rd for Bermuda.

Concern had arisen from family members that the vessel, piloted by a 63-year-old solo sailor may have run into difficulties on passage close to Hurricane Juan. With no communications to the vessel, this could not be verified. Contact was eventually made and the sailboat made it safely to Bermuda.