The search for the eight missing crew of a cargo ship north of Scotland has been suspended.

A major search effort was first mounted on Saturday after the upturned hull of the Cypriot-registered Cemfjord was spotted in the waters of the Pentland Firth by a passing ferry.

The search was suspended by coastguards late on Sunday (Monday AEDT) after no trace was found of the crew members.

• Search resumes for cargo ship crew

There are no plans to resume the search.

The Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) is investigating the incident.

Tony Redding, spokesman for German shipping company Brise of Hamburg, which manages the ship, said it will take time to piece together what happened.

“It was a violent storm and it seems likely that the weather would have been a factor but, until we have some better idea of what happened, I can’t say how much of a factor,” he said.

The company last heard from the vessel on Friday and there was no distress call.

The crew on the NorthLink ferry Hrossey alerted the British coastguard after spotting the ship’s upturned hull around 16km east of the Pentland Skerries on Saturday afternoon.

The families of the missing crew, made up of seven Poles and one Filipino, have been notified.

The 83-metre bulk cement carrier had been bound for Cheshire, on the west coast of the UK.