Hopes fade in missing man search

The dory was found upside down in the water

Rescuers looking for a man missing from a capsized boat found in the sea off Orkney fear he may not be found alive.

The search for Alex Moar, 23, from Stromness, believed to have been on board a boat discovered capsized in the sea off Orkney, began on Saturday.

A member of the public contacted the emergency services after spotting a red distress flare off Stromness.

Shetland Coastguard launched a search just after 0036 BST and the overturned 17ft boat was discovered an hour later.

Resources are expected to be scaled down as hopes fade of finding Mr Moar alive.

The coastguard said Mr Moar left Stromness alone on the vessel late on Friday evening with the intention of travelling to Hoy.

Distress flare

The boat is a small work vessel known as a "Dory" and is currently at the pier at Stromness.

A coastguard spokeswoman said it was not yet known what had caused the boat to overturn.

A Northern Constabulary spokesman added that a distress flare had been sighted off the Point of Ness, near Stromness, by a member of the public on the island of Graemsay.

Shetland Coastguard said that the air, land and sea search had earlier focused on the area of the Hoy Sound from Stromness to Breck Ness in the north, as well as around the north coast of Graemsay and Hoy.