[6] Due to the low depth of water in the vicinity, and unpredictable currents, the Ve Skerries are notorious for their danger to passing ships.

While travelling between the Faroe Islands and Leith in ballast under the command of Captain Samuelson, Illeri went aground on the northeast end[29] of the Ve Skerries early in the morning of Sunday 9 May 1909 due to poor visibility in thick fog.

[34] The boat was directed to Muckle Roe, where they were redirected to Olnafirth where the Norwegian Olna Whaling Station was based, to which they safely arrived.

[35] On the same morning, a report from Sandness reached Divisional Officer Mr Rogers at Fort Charlotte, Lerwick that the ship had wrecked.

[34] He summoned the Northern Lighthouse Commissioners' steamship Pole Star (which was leaving port) by semaphore to return and conveyed the report to the chief officer.

The ships' state indicated it had been quickly abandoned - The Orkney Herald reported that "they found the sails merely clued up, but not stowed, the side lights burning, and a 24 hour alarm timepiece lying on the cabin table still going."

[34] On 29 March 1930, the Aberdeen steam trawler Ben Doran ran aground on the north end of Heligoblo[30] in bad weather and rough sea conditions, due in part to poor coverage in nautical charts of the area, and lack of knowledge of the tides around the shallow reef surrounding the Ve Skerries which were considered unpredictable even to experienced Shetland fishermen.

Another passing trawler brought news of the accident to Lerwick by 5pm,[1] after which the Stromness Lifeboat Station in Orkney was notified, and Board of Trade's life-saving apparatus - a rocket propelled rope to shoot to another vessel, to allow for it to be towed to safety[36] - was arranged and taken by lorry to Ronas Voe.

[1] Honorary Secretary of the RNLI's Lerwick branch, George Theodore Kay,[37] who was aware of the geography of the Ve Skerries, thought that a ship the size of Arora would struggle to come close enough to Ben Doran to effect a rescue attempt.

He, with John Falconer, master of the trawler Boscobell, and W. H. Dougall from The Missions to Seamen proceeded to Voe and enrolled the assistance of Smiling Morn.

"[39] At one point a "tide lump" (Shetland dialect: a rapid escalation of tidal activity)[40] fell into the 20-foot (6.1 m) rowing boat which Smiling Morn had in tow, and it sank.

[44] On 9 December 1977 Elinor Viking, an Aberdeen trawler was wrecked on the east side of Reaverack[31] due to extreme weather conditions.

An appeal was made to Sumburgh Airport where British Airways had helicopters stationed, and a volunteer crew was assembled,[45] including Captain George Bain as the chief pilot, and Major Alasdair Campbell as a winchman.

[46] They reached the scene within about an hour and, with the aid of another helicopter and an RAF Nimrod trying to provide light in the dark conditions, they proceeded with the rescue attempt in horrendous weather.

[45] Both Bain and Campbell received Queen's Gallantry Medals for "outstanding bravery, skill and determination in conditions of extreme weather and darkness operating in a situation far beyond that normally expected of a helicopter on rescue service.

With the intention of returning as quickly as possible (due to unexpected delays in their fishing operations), the ship's mate set the vessel on a heading of 184° and proceeded at a speed of 9 knots (17 km/h; 10 mph) to keep close to the coast in order to save time.

The ship was surveyed with assistance from the Sullom Voe Terminal tug Tystie, however during the inspection the vessel rolled 5-10° to port, at which point the men aboard were evacuated.

They posed that the skipper's decision making may have been impacted by fatigue, while the set up of the bridge's controls may have made it more difficult to observe risks to the ship.

The hunter was successfully transported to Akers Geo, Papa Stour, after which he dutifully retrieved Ollavitinus' skin from a skeo (Shetland dialect: a hut of loosely constructed stone for wind-drying meat or fish)[59] in Hamnavoe, allowing him to return to the sea and his wives.