Bermuda Regiment soldiers today helped pluck a man from a boat being battered by heavy seas.

Members of the Regiment’s Operational Support Unit (OSU) and the airport-based Immediate Response Team (IRT) joined police and firefighters after they were alerted to a boat in trouble at the dock at the end of Chapel of Ease Road in St David’s.

OSU team leader Corporal Shuunto James said: “The weather was just starting to blow up and the water was coming in very strong.

“We were very concerned about the man’s safety — we didn’t want him to be in jeopardy over the course of the hurricane.”

The middle-aged man, who lives on the boat, moved it from Mullet Bay to the Chapel of Ease dock but was hit by high seas and strong winds and the emergency services went to his rescue at about 4pm.

The man, who has not been named, was taken by a fire service ambulance to the Lamb Foggo Urgent Care Centre and later accommodated at the Southside police station.

Cpl James said the boat had been secured and tied up alongside the dock.

He added: “Hopefully, it will make it through the hurricane.”

Bermuda Fire and Rescue Service attended the boat rescue with 11 firefighters and four vehicles, a spokeswoman said.

Regiment Staff Officer Major Andrew Clarke said: “Things are working exactly the way they should — all the services working together with one aim — to protect the public.

“This is what we’re deployed to do in support of the police service and we will help with the safety and the reassurance of the public wherever we can, whether in support of the police or other Government agencies and help restore normality to the people of Bermuda in the quickest possible time.”