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 local authority yesterday.
The MV Selkie was brought into service 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.
However Selkie has been plagued with maintenance issues, while there have also been problems with recruiting and retaining staff.
During this past 12 months the Selkie has removed 8427 tonnes of silt from Buckie and Burghead harbours, which are currently a priority for the council.
However that figure has fallen from 12,880 in 2022/23, from 14,120 in 2021/22 and from 11,240 in 2020/21.
In addition, it has only worked 62 days during the past 12 months, compared to 94 and 77 during the previous two reporting periods. Although that figure is more than the 38 managed in 2020/21.
Speaking at Tuesday’s meeting of the council’s economic development and infrastructure committee, John Cowe (Heldon and Laich/Independent) asked: “Is it 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.”
Sonya Warren (Buckie, SNP) 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. How can we ensure harbour users are getting the service they deserve?”
Officers responded that although it looked as if the Selkie was doing less, the more targeted and detailed work carried out at Buckie meant slower progress than with regular dredging.
This work involved scraping dense materials and rock, which inevitably resulted in lower volumes.
While the tonnage removed by the vessel dropped last year, the number of maintenance days also fell. They totalled 28 within the last 12 months, compared to 46, 59 and 46 over the three previous periods.
Last year the Danish-registered Aase Hoj was brought in at a cost of £300,000 to carry out work which Selkie was not able to do.
As well as Buckie and Burghead the vessel is also tasked with dredging the local authority’s harbours at Findochty, Portknockie, Cullen and Hopeman.
