The Royal Navy launched an investigation today after a boat carrying a journalist from Oxford ran aground at high speed on an outcrop of rock in Arctic waters.

The passengers "could have been killed" after the boat - carrying a Mail on Sunday photographer, the editor of an aviation magazine and a Press Association reporter - skidded 50ft (15m) after narrowly missing several large boulders.

The men were being transported in the early hours of the morning from HMS Ark Royal, anchored in Breivika Bay, Norway, when the boat hit the large area of rock half a mile from the shore.

Editor-in-chief of Loop magazine, David Calderwood, 55, from Oxford, said: "We were very, very lucky to escape with no injuries. I think we could have been killed.

"The boat picked up speed. We were travelling very fast when we started to notice a change in the surface of the water just to our left side and immediately we ran aground and were bumping across the rocky shore at a hell of a speed.

"Luckily we didn't hit anything head-on because we would have all been thrown out of the boat on to the rocks.

"You just don't go that speed in the dark when you can't see five metres in front of you."

A second rigid inflatable boat was launched to rescue the party, which included two crewmen and a Royal Naval media liaison officer, and arrived about 15 minutes later.

The new crew approached the rock at a precautionary slow pace.

The journalists, wearing dry suits, life jackets and helmets, were able to board the boat after wading through knee-deep, almost-freezing water.

But the second boat ingested seaweed and was forced to travel at a slow speed, initially only able to go in reverse as it attempted to return to the mother ship a mile away.

A spokesman for the aircraft carrier said the boat transfer took place at 3am in the "unfamiliar and challenging environment of a Norwegian fjord".

He said: "The transfer was taking place at night in order to allow the three members of the media to catch flights returning them to the UK.

"One of the passengers suffered a minor injury and was treated on board.

"All personnel were recovered safely using Ark Royal's second sea boat and the first was left on a sandbank to be retrieved at high tide.

"An immediate ship investigation has been instigated."

He added: "The coxswain of the boat is a seaman specialist who has undertaken specialist, recognised training in operating this boat.

"There are guidelines pertaining to the weather conditions in which the sea boat can be launched. The prevailing conditions fell within these parameters so it was safe."

The temperature was well below freezing with snow and a biting wind, and the surface of the water was calm.

The Ark Royal is in Norway with several other Royal Navy ships taking part in a large-scale training exercise.