Well Roger(re #13) -here's the latest. On the face of it things remain the same 'TSS Dover' is a negative asset now owned by the crown and she remains a sorry state sunk at her moorings on the River Tees. Technically we could buy her now for a pound. Currently we are still waiting for a decision from the MOD marine salvage team who are attempting to organise a MACA scheme to refloat the vessel through the environment agency and move her to the safety of a nearby dry dock. The dock itself is not quite operational (gates need work) but we believe that we can get local sponsorship in the Teeside area to make them operational. The owners of the dock PD Ports fully approve of our project and are being very helpful i.e. we get the dock going and and we get to use it. We get facilities to repair our vessel and Teeside gets another working dry-dock. Obviously we need to get her to dock for probable repairs to the hull and there are no suitable docks in the South East -never mind Dover. The idea is to repair the hull and much heavy machinery on Teeside and tow her south-hopefully to Dover for fitting out and commissioning.
Now here's the interesting bit-we are now working with K College to set up a cadet apprenticeship scheme based around the vessel-we have also made contact with Middlesborough college to do exactly the same. Students will exchange and travel north to south and visa versa. When the vessel is complete the educational focus will change to navigation and operational engineering. This presents a fantastic training and career creation opportunity and ticks many of the potential funding boxes.
'DOVER' will be fully operational as a steam turbine powered vessel and will comply with the very latest SOLAS and emissions standards. We could well have to sacrifice car deck space to additional buoyancy compartments-but it would seem that plying her trade as a coastal passenger vessel (as she once did from Folkestone) would be her future(premium fares of course!).
That's the plan-it's starting to develop nicely...
Fingers crossed for the good old MOD!
'Dover's' engine room-currently subterranean!