A blaze that destroyed a fishing trawler in Peterhead harbour was discovered by a crew member on his way to the toilet after waking up.

The lack of a fire alarm meant it was "fortunate" the early-morning fire that gutted Ardent II was found by a crew member before it spread further, investigators said.

A Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) report said the three crew members who were living on board as the boat was moored in harbour were able to escape after he raised the alarm.

The report found the fire was most likely started by an multi-socket plug adaptor that powered a freezer on the 24m vessel.

The fire started in the vessel's crew mess room at around 5am on August, 16 2016, leading to more than 30 firefighters being called out to tackle the blaze.

One of the three Filipino crew members discovered the blaze as he woke up shortly after the fire broke out.

The report said: "At about 5.15am, one of the crew exited the accommodation and entered the crew mess room on his way to the toilet/washroom.

"As he did so, he smelt what he considered to be burning plastic and saw black smoke, but there were no obvious signs of flames or heat.

"He shouted to alert the other two crew, who then exited the accommodation into the crew mess room, unfastened the watertight door and passed through the doorway into the aft net drum space and then on to the quay."

The vessel was found to be damaged beyond repair after the fire crews spent hours dampening down the flames, which had spread throughout the trawler.

No specific safety recommendations were made by the MAIB as new regulations that require fishing vessels like Ardent II to install fire detectors come into force this year.