Two drilling ships have now successfully berthed at Hunterston Pier over recent days.

Locals have nicknamed the ships 'Blackpool Tower' and 'Eiffel Tower' as Fairlie beach have been busy with onlookers keen to get a look.

The first vessel VALARIS DS4 is a drilling ship built in 2010 and currently sailing under the flag of Marshall Islands.

Built in South Korea, it boasts 6 x 8000kw main engines, Rolls Royce thrusters and drilling equipment including turntables and the NOV Dynamic Derrick (the 'Eiffel Tower' section)  of 2,000,000 pounds (lbs).

The vessel has been likened by some residents to the Eiffel Tower due to the size and shape of its drilling mechanism. 

It has a DWT tonnage of 59925 t which accounts for Deadweight tonnage -a measure of how much weight a ship can carry. It is the sum of the weights of cargo, fuel, fresh water, ballast water, provisions, passengers, and crew.

The length overall is 228m, and the second ship, the Ensco DS8 was sitting off the channel in West Kilbride yesterday, before arriving at Hunterston port today.

Cllr Ian Murdoch said that the ships are in for lay up and will be 'warm-stacked'.

Warm stacking is where a rig, platform or drillship is taken to port, but kept running in a similar state to as if it was operating. This means that the lights are on, the engines are running and there is a smaller, but adequate crew on board.