Aberdeenshire Council has confirmed that Shearwater Marine Services Ltd is now on site to progress the project.

The specialist company will initially be working on the East Pier to ensure its structural stability before winter.

Work to complete the remainder of the repairs to the Railway Jetty and reinstate the masonry cladding to both the pier and jetty will then proceed.

Philip McKay, head of roads and infrastructure, with responsibility for harbours, said: “Shearwater have been undertaking dive surveys and inspections and are now mobilised on site, taking delivery of the materials and supplies required for this project much of which has been sourced locally.

“The internal construction of the pier will be a combination of in-situ concrete and precast concrete blocks to allow for a rapid reconstruction of the inner wall of the pier. The placing of infill material between inner and outer walls will complete the stabilisation of the pier by the end of November.

“This approach will see the wall built up in layers with each additional layer further strengthening the pier. On completion of the infilling of the pier a temporary concrete deck surface will be laid to protect the infill from washout in the event of over-topping.”

“Moving forward, we are continuing our discussions with both Shearwater and other suppliers to look at the rebuilding of the stonework of both the East Pier and Railway Jetty and we will, of course, provide harbours users with updates in due course.”

Lochshell Ltd, which was appointed to carry out the £1.3 million upgrade at the port earlier this year, halted works at the site in June and again in August with the contractor warning that the crumbling 17th-century port was in a worse condition than had been advertised.

The council then cancelled the contract in September and began the hunt for a replacement firm to carry out the badly-needed remedial work on the port’s dilapidated jetty and weakened east pier before the arrival of winter storms.