The drunk 52-year-old called in repeated mayday alarms to the Maritime Sea Rescue Command as he piloted his water toys, claiming he was captain of a 12-crew freighter in distress.

Giving a position west of the Baltic Sea island of Bornholm, which belongs to Denmark, he said his vessel was listing 45 degrees and that one crew member had been washed overboard.

The authorities leaped to respond, sending two rescue vessels to search the area for one-and-a-half hours.

But police eventually traced the phone calls to the home of the intoxicated man, who admitted the false alarm.

He faced fines and compensation claims of 10,000 crowns ($1,400) for the ``disaster,'' which police told the daily Sjaellands Tidende was the first of its kind on record.

Source: Yahoo! Daily News

[Updated 1-10-2000]