The Moray Council’s new £2.4 million dredger is to be named MV Selkie.
The name was chosen by members of the council’s economic development and infrastructure committee yesterday. It was selected from a shortlist drawn up from more than 300 suggestions submitted by children from coastal schools in Moray.
MV Selkie, being built by Macduff Shipyard Ltd. as a replacement for the Shearwater, will be the only dredger in Scotland owned and operated by a local authority.
The new 25.7m vessel will service Moray Council’s harbors at Buckie, Burghead, Hopeman, Findochty, Portknockie and Cullen as well as being available for hire to councils around the coast of Scotland.
It will be capable of dredging to a depth of 8m with its bow-mounted excavator. Construction work on the dredger, which will be powered by two 500hp engines, is expected to be completed by spring of next year.