Four Royal Navy patrol boats will visit Peterhead this week to spend a fortnight training on the north-east coast.
The P2000 Archer class ships HMS Trumpeter, HMS Archer, HMS Explorer and HMS Example are support University Royal Naval Units (URNUs) and will arrive in the town tomorrow before continuing north for waterborne training.
The ships, just 65ft long, are some of the smallest in the fleet – meaning they can access smaller harbours and carry out seamanship training.
The Navy’s regional commander for Scotland and Northern Ireland, Captain Chris Smith, said: “The P2000s may be small, but they pack a punch and regularly exercise around Europe as well as supporting the fleet.
“Usually we would be hosting visits from local groups and organisations but, with the current situation, this is unfortunately not possible.
“We still hope to engage with local organisations across social media and using new technologies however, and if people spot the ships in their areas we hope they’ll give them a wave.”
The ongoing Covid-19 lockdown restrictions also mean the vessels, manned by a core crew of full-time Royal Navy sailors, cannot host members of units from their affiliated universities across the country as they usually would.
Each ship will instead host virtual drill nights online with their association university crews.
The Royal Navy has 14 Fast Inshore Patrol Craft which together form the Coastal Forces Squadron.
Although their primary role is to support the URNUs, two of them, HMS Tracker and HMS Raider, are permanently based at Her Majesty’s Naval Base on the Clyde where they are part of the team safeguarding the nuclear fleet.
At the same time the four ships are undertaking their east coast deployment, three other ships – Biter, Charger and Express – will sail up the west coast of Scotland.
