Moray Council's dredger, Selkie, in operation at Burghead.
Moray Council’s dredger will soon begin to visit the region’s smaller harbours after returning to operation in Buckie.
The £2.5million vessel, Selkie, was moored up for more than six months after being hit with staffing problems – leading to it being branded a “white elephant”.
The dredger returned to action in Buckie earlier this month and yesterday the authority confirmed it would travel to Burghead within the next week.
Nicola Moss, the council’s transportation manager, said: “The vessel is operational again and has carried out dredging in Buckie during the last week.
“It’s our plan, subject to weather conditions, that we will be coming to Burghead either late this week or early next week.
“We have taken volume out of Buckie but there is still further work to be done there. Our next priority is to get to Burghead though.”
Yesterday, Moray Council’s economic development and infrastructure committee approved a dredging plan for the region’s harbours for the next year, which includes 11,500 tonnes being removed from Buckie, 5,000 tonnes from Burghead, 3,330 tonnes from Findochty and 1,200 tonnes each from Portknockie, Cullen and Hopeman.
