The diving support vessel Seven Pelican arrived at Peterhead harbour with her unusual cargo yesterday afternoon.
The 5,000-tonne ship picked up the ditched Super Puma late on Thursday with the help of Peterhead’s lifeboat crew.
The vessel travelled throughout the night and the morning to reach the Buchan port by 2pm.
The Seven Pelican berthed at Peterhead’s north breakwater, while camera crews, anglers and fish-factory workers looked on.
A crane was used to lift the Super Puma from the back of the vessel on to the quay.
Once on the sea wall, it was subjected to a thorough inspection by technicians.
The helicopter appeared to be intact, with no visible damage.
The flotation devices which had kept the aircraft upright on the surface of the North Sea were still inflated.
Engineers then began preparing the chopper for its long road trip.
Rotor blades were removed before the crane was used once again to lift the aircraft on to a waiting flatbed lorry.
Bond said that, after returning to shore, the Super Puma would be impounded by the Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB).
The probe is expected to begin today and will focus on the oil pressure warning light.
Peterhead’s RNLI crew were called to the helicopter just minutes after it landed 25 miles east of Aberdeen.
They stayed with the stricken Super Puma until the Seven Pelican arrived on the scene.
An attempt to help Bond technicians board the helicopter as it floated on the surface of the water was abandoned when weather conditions deteriorated.