A 69-year-old man has died after his boat capsized near Macduff.
Rescue teams were scrambled to the shoreline on Thursday morning following reports a fishing trawler had overturned.
The alarm was raised shortly after 11am sparking a major rescue operation.
Coastguard Rescue Teams from Fraserburgh and Macduff were sent to the scene alongside local lifeboat crews and the coastguard rescue helicopter from Inverness.
Moments after they arrived, rescue teams found the man in the water and a fishing boat overturned.
Despite their best efforts, the man died a short time later.
Police confirmed there are not thought to be any suspicious circumstances.
Rescue teams scrambled as boat capsizes in the North Sea
In a statement, a police spokesman said: “Around 12pm on Thursday, September 21, a 69-year-old man was found in the water after a fishing boat overturned in the North Sea near Macduff. He was pronounced dead a short time later.
“There are not believed to be any suspicious circumstances surrounding the death and a report will be submitted to the Procurator Fiscal.”
This morning, Macduff’s inshore lifeboat was seen returning to the area.
Workers at Macduff Harbour recall seeing the lifeboat crew earlier this morning sprinting to get ready and out into the vessel.
One worker, who did not wish to be named, said: “We were just working away on a quiet Friday. Then all of a sudden, we saw the lifeboat crew getting ready very quickly and away into the boat.
“We didn’t really know what was happening at all.”
In a statement, a spokesman from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) said: “HM Coastguard responded to a report of a capsized boat on the shore near Macduff on September, 21.
“The alarm was raised at about 11.15am.
“The RNLI’s all-weather lifeboat from Fraserburgh and inshore lifeboat from Macduff were sent, as well as the HM Coastguard search and rescue helicopter from Inverness.
“Fraserburgh and MacDuff Coastguard Rescue Teams also attended, and Police Scotland was alerted.”
