Name chosen for new Moray Council dredger

Moray Council’s new £2.4million dredger is to be named MV Selkie.

The name was chosen by members of the council’s economic development and infrastructure committee today.

It was selected from a shortlist drawn up from more than 300 suggestions submitted by children from coastal schools in Moray.

A selkie is a mythical Celtic sea creature - see here

The name will be incorporated into the bow of the vessel currently under construction at the Macduff Shipyard Ltd site at Buckie harbour, from where she will operate following her completion in the spring.

MV Selkie will be the only dredger in Scotland owned and operated by a local authority.

She is being built as a replacement for the Shearwater, which the council disposed of two years ago following many years of service.

The new 90ft vessel will service Moray Council’s harbours at Buckie, Burghead, Hopeman, Findochty, Portknockie and Cullen as well as being available for hire to councils around the coast of Scotland.

It will be capable of dredging to a depth of 27ft with its bow-mounted excavator.

Moray Council area stretches from Tomintoul in the south to the shores of the Moray Firth, from Keith in the east to Forres in the west. The council and its 4,500 employees respond to the needs of 92,500 residents in this beautiful part of Scotland, which nestles between Aberdeenshire and the Highlands.

Famous for its colony of dolphins, fabulous beaches and more malt whisky distilleries than any where else in Scotland, Moray is a thriving area and a great place to live.

Headquartered in  Elgin, the administrative capital of Moray.