Is Moray Council’s dredger the Selkie fit for purpose?

Is Moray Council’s dredger fit for purpose?

That was the question raised at a meeting of the economic development and infrastructure committee this week.

The MV Selkie was brought in to service about eight years ago at a cost of £2.5 million.

It replaced the local authority’s ageing dredger the Shearwater which was sold for scrap.

Staffing issues

However Selkie has been plagued with maintenance issues.

And there have been problems with recruiting and retaining staff.

In 2023/24 Selkie removed 8,427 tonnes of silt from Buckie and Burghead harbours, which are priority for the council at the moment.

However that figure has fallen from 12,880 in the previous 12 months, 14,120 in 2021/22  and 11,240 in 2020/21.

On top of that it only worked 62 days in 2023/24 compared to 94 and 77 in the previous two reporting periods.

But it was more than the 38 it managed in 2020/21.

While the tonnage removed by the vessel has dropped, the number of maintenance days has also fallen.

They totalled 28 in the last 12 months compared to 46, 59 and 46 over the three previous reporting periods.

Drop in silt removed from harbours

Councillor for Heldon and Laich John Cowe said: “Is it (Selkie) fit for purpose?”

“I know there’s been issues with crewing particularly the skipper.

“But we’re in a global fishing area with a wealth of ex-skippers capable of skippering the vessel.”

Buckie councillor Sonya Warren raised concerns over the amount of tonnage removed and the number of days the vessel was doing its job.

She said: “We are down to 43% of working days when we were on an upward trajectory. Now this has flipped again.

“How can we ensure harbour users are getting the service they deserve?”

Officers explained although it looked as if less was being done, targeted and more detailed work at Buckie meant Selkie made slower progress than regular dredging.

The work involved scraping dense materials and rock resulting in lower volumes of material being deposited.

Last year the Danish-registered Aase Hoj was brought in to carry out work Selkie was not able to do, at a cost of £300,000.

As well as Buckie and Burghead the vessel is also tasked with dredging the local authority’s harbours at Findochty, Portknockie, Cullen and Hopeman.