Two killed as huge waves hit oil tanker

Two crewmen were killed and another seriously injured yesterday after their oil tanker was hit by huge waves in the Pentland Firth, one of the world’s most notorious stretches of water. The men were believed to have been standing on the deck of the 42,000-tonne tanker when it was caught in a gale force eight storm and buffeted by waves over 20 feet high. The ship, the FR8 Venture, contacted Shetland coastguard shortly after midday. ‘The ship may have got hit by a freak wave.’ said the coastguard. ‘As soon as the skipper realised the extent of the injuries he turned back to Scapa Flow.’