A TOY pirate ship launched off the Scottish coast by two brothers has set sail again off Africa as its voyage continues.

Ollie and Harry Ferguson sent their Playmobil vessel "Adventure" off for real life exploits earlier this year. Specially adapted by their father MacNeill Ferguson, it survived the waves to reach Denmark then Sweden, where the finder repaired its sails.

After reaching Norway it was picked up by the crew of tall ship the Christian Radich, which has now transported the miniature craft to Africa, dropping it into the water 100miles off the coast of Mauritania.

The latest leg of the journey has taken the plastic boat thousands of miles from the waters off Peterhead, where the voyage began in May.

MacNeill says the youngsters, aged eight and five, now hope it may cross the Atlantic to have its own "Pirates of the Caribbean" experience.

The 44-year-old said: "The Christian Radich have been amazing, they have been sending us regular photos with our boat on their ship and they have been really getting into the spirit of the whole adventure.

"They took it all the way to Las Palmas in the Canary Islands and then between there and Cape Verde they decided it was the best place to put it in the ocean to give it the best chance of getting to America or the Caribbean.

"It would be nice having a toy pirate ship get to the Caribbean.

"The boys love it. When they come home from school they ask is there any news about the ship and having all these photos from the Christian Radich is as close as the boys can get to being on board."

The Playmobil vessel carries a message asking anyone who finds it to send a picture to the Turriff family and launch it back into the sea.

The ship's journey is now being sponsored by document imaging company Opex, which is paying for a tracker to pinpoint where the vessel is. It is hoped this will provide useful information about how an object with no power drifts in the tides and currents of the Atlantic.

The brothers sent their toy to sea as part of a list of 500 adventures which they are working their way through, which also includes sending Lego figures "into space" in a high altitude weather balloon.