A disused Moray shipyard has been purchased by Macduff Shipyards Ltd to help unlock its potential as a service and maintenance base for the offshore renewables industry.

The company acquired the Buckie Shipyard from Moray Council for an undisclosed sum.

Macduff Shipyards now intends to start refurbishing the site, which has been closed for four years and suffered from a lack of investment for many years prior to this.

In addition to relaunching Buckie's boat-building industry, the site is ideally placed to help service the renewables activity currently going on in the Moray Firth, such as the offshore Beatrice windfarm.

Macduff Shipyards' Managing Director, John Watt, said: "We see a great potential in Buckie harbour in the future. We have been providing a restricted service to the marine sector in Buckie these last three years, just launching a 19m fishing vessel which, although it is the fifth vessel we have launched in Buckie, is the first large fishing vessel to be built in the town in 15 years.

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"Work has also started on the next fishing vessel in Buckie for Steven Clarke and partners as a replacement for the Caledonia , and the additional space will allow us to cater better for theMoray Firth inshore fleet as well.

"The slipways at Macduff and Fraserburgh are working close to capacity and we intend to build a facility that will complement other facilities and be able to slip heavier and wider vessels that cannot presently be accommodated in the north-east. We are hoping to have this up and running for summer 2018.

"Once the site is fully operation we believe it will complement the council's vision of Buckie being an operations and maintenance port for any future offshore wind opportunities."

Cllr John Cowe said: "This is very welcome news not only for Buckie but for the whole of Moray and its economy.

"Building ships is part of Buckie's heritage and it is great to know that tradition will continue thanks to Macduff Shipyards, whose reputation within the industry is second to none.

"Their acquisition of Buckie Shipyard will enhance the prospects of the Buckie harbour area being able to diversify and take advantage of the massive opportunities that the offshore renewables industry, in particular, will offer."

(LM)