A search is on over waters reportedly near Gardenstown.
A mayday call was received by the coastguard around 1pm.
A spokeswoman from the coastguard said: “HM Coastguard received a short spoken word mayday distress call at 13:00 today.
“Coastguard Rescue Teams from Macduff, Buckie, Banff, and Portsoy, lifeboats from Buckie and Macduff, and the Coastguard Search and Rescue Helicopter based at Inverness are all searching the Moray Firth.
“We have no further information at this time.”
More information to follow.