A group of sailors stranded in the Highlands for four months are finally on their way home to Europe.
The eight men have been living on board their ship the MV Nicola tied up at Invergordon since November.
The ship, which was on its way to southern Ireland from Poland, broke down in the Pentland Firth in October and was initially towed to Scapa Flow.
The following month, it was taken to the Easter Ross port, where it has remained ever since.
However, shortly after arriving, representatives of the Church of Scotland’s seafarers’ centre discovered that the seven Ukranians and one Lithuanian were not being paid.
The wrangle meant that they could not return home until yesterday.
But their plight touched the hearts of local residents, who gave the men odd jobs to do to keep their spirits up, including the charity Blythswood Care. The charity also donated money to the men’s families.
The seafarers’ centre also took the men on visits to local tourist spots at weekends, and Ross County FC treated them to home matches, complete with Staggies’ hats and scarves.
Drew Anderson, the port chaplain, said that the men kept in touch with their families using the facilities at the centre but added that one man was in Invergordon when his first child was born.
He said that the men only discovered they were to go home on Wednesday morning.
They boarded buses to Aberdeen Airport at 11.30pm the same night and were due on a flight to Amsterdam and then onward to Kiev and beyond.
He said: “We were sad to see them go but it was lovely to see them so excited about going home.”
The MV Nicola remains at Invergordon where it is being repaired.