Good weather has enabled progress to be made in the salvage operation of a large cargo vessel which ran aground in the Minch last month.
MV Kaami hit rocks between the Outer Hebrides and Skye on March 23.
It was carrying Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) in pellet form and faced days of being battered by storms.
However, favourable conditions have made it possible for the salvors to remove 44 skips worth of cargo from the ship over the weekend.
The vessel remains aground in the Minch between Skye and Lewis. So far 138 skips worth of cargo have been taken ashore and cargo offloading was due to continue tomorrow.
Stephan Hennig, the Secretary of State’s Representative Maritime Salvage and Intervention, said: “Greatly improved weather and sea conditions have made all the difference in this operation as we had hoped they would. The removal of so much cargo now means we’re getting closer to the next phase of the salvage which will focus on assessing the internal damage and attempting to temporarily repair damaged sections of the ship.”
The eight Russian crew of the 295ft long ship were airlifted to Stornoway after the baulkcarrier struck trouble in The Minch.
A spokeswoman for Highland Council said: “Our role has been a watching brief. Our officials are in regular contact and are monitoring the situation on a daily basis.”