Twin vessels use Buckie as base for offshore trenching operations

The potential of Buckie harbour as a base for offshore construction work is set to be confirmed this weekend with the arrival of two vessels involved with the Beatrice windfarm project.

The 160ft Manu-Pekka dredger barge is expected to berth on Sunday along with the 88ft BKM 103 multicat tug.

The Finnish-built barge has no propulsion and is towed between work locations by the tug.

The vessels will spend two to three weeks in Buckie while general maintenance work is carried out and new equipment is fitted before beginning work in the Moray Firth.

There they will spend around three months excavating a subsea trench which will carry transmission cabling from the site of the Beatrice windfarm 35 miles offshore from Buckie.

The power cables will make landfall to the west of Portgordon from where they will be connected to the new electricity substation currently under construction at Blackhillock, near Keith.

Buckie is the largest of Moray Council’s six harbours and is seen as having an important role as a support and maintenance base for the offshore renewables industry.

A council spokesman said: “The council continues to support offshore work by offering Buckie harbour as a strategic location for a range of services.

“This latest opportunity is part of ongoing partnership working with the offshore sector and we will continue to expand and develop the services that we are able to offer.”

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 95,510 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.