Herd & McKenzie Shipbuilders

Herd & McKenzie, later Buckie Shipyard Ltd, were shipbuilders and repairers in Buckie, Moray, Scotland.

Herd & McKenzie Shipbuilders

Company type	Private
Industry	Shipbuilding
Founded	1903
Founder	James Herd & Thomas McKenzie
Headquarters	Buckie , UK
Key people	Colin Taylor
Website	http://www.buckieshipyard.com/index.htm

History

James Herd & Thomas McKenzie started building boats at the Crooked Hythe in Findochty in 1903. Between 1905 and 1915 they built 32 steam drifters.^[1] In 1918, the firm moved from Findochty to a new yard in Buckie, at the eastern end of Cluny Harbour.^[2]

Buckie Shipyard were latterly part of the Lithgow Group.

It was announced on 23 August 2013 that the Buckie Shipbuilders had gone into administration with 68 of the 74 staff being made redundant immediately.^[3]

Services

Buckie Shipyard built, converted, refitted and repaired ferries, tugs, workboats, yachts, pilot boats, MOD vessels, small cruise vessels, diving vessels, lifeboats, fishing boats and fish farm cages. They slipped vessels up to 850 tonnes in displacement and 70 metres in length. A new 1,600 sq. metres refit facility opened in 2003, including a state-of-the-art temperature and humidity controlled paint spray booth, capable of taking vessels up to 21m in length, 6m in beam and up to 50 tonnes. A 50-ton hydraulic slipway hoist transported vessels directly from the inner basin at Buckie Harbour into the refit hall.^[4]

The Royal National Lifeboat Institution had been a major client for over 60 years, with all classes of RNLI lifeboat undergoing refit.^[5]

In its last few years the yard delivered two aluminium windfarm service catamarans, Penmon Point^[6] and Lynas Point^[7] to Turbine Transfers, for work in Belgium^[8] and similar vessels followed.^[9]

Ships built

Yard No	Name	Type	Launch	Notes
	Captain Scott	Sail training schooner	1971	For the Dulverton Trust now Shabab Oman with Royal Navy of Oman
	Kesteven	Fishing vessel	1973	GY277
	Edlei	Fishing vessel	1975	GY455
	Aubretia	Fishing vessel	1986	BCK32
	Bonaventure	Fishing vessel	1987	LH111
	MV Loch Alainn	Ferry	4 April 1997	For Caledonian MacBrayne
	Penmon Point	Aluminium catamaran	2010	For Turbine Transfers
	Lynas Point	Aluminium catamaran	2010	For Turbine Transfers
Source: Ship Photos[10]

Footnotes

1. "Fishing boat 'Maranatha' on the slipway at Buckie". Scran. Retrieved 18 July 2010.
2. "Buckie Shipyard Ltd: Ship-builders & Repairs". Scran. Retrieved 18 July 2010.
3. "Buckie Shipyard jobs lost as firm goes into administration". BBC News. 23 August 2013. Retrieved 23 August 2013.
4. "Refit Facility". Buckie Shipyard. Archived from the original on 7 May 2010. Retrieved 18 July 2010.
5. "Clients". Buckie Shipyard. Archived from the original on 10 May 2010. Retrieved 18 July 2010.
6. "Penmon Point". Holyhead Towing Company. Retrieved 18 July 2010.
7. "Buckie Shipyard looks to renewable energy sector" (PDF). Seawork 2010. Retrieved 18 July 2010.^{[permanent dead link]}
8. "New wave of business for Buckie Shipyard". Press and Journal. 31 March 2010. Retrieved 18 July 2010.
9. "Buckie Shipyard Delivers First South Catamaran for Holyhead Towing Subsidiary". Shipbuilders & Shiprepairers Association. 29 March 2010. Retrieved 18 July 2010.^{[permanent dead link]}
10. "Herd and McKenzie". Ship Photos. Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 18 July 2010.

References

• Herd & Mackenzie - The Story of a Shipyard. Buckie & District Fishing Heritage.