Spencer Group is building a wet berth for the old Spurn Lightship on Hull Marina as part of a £30m cultural regeneration project.
The Hull Maritime project, led by the city council, is designed to both celebrate and preserve Hull’s maritime heritage.
The lightship was built in 1927 and served for 48 years as a navigation aid, guiding ships through the tricky Humber Estuary. It was decommissioned in 1975 before being bought by Hull City Council and moved to Hull Marina as a museum.
It has been closed to visitors since 2018 but is now set to reopen in its new home in the northwest corner of the marina, close to the Murdoch’s Connection footbridge, later in the summer.
The works by Spencer Group will include dredging the berthing area and installing five mooring piles and a steel walkway to allow access onto the lightship once it has been moved into place at its new home.
The majority of the works is carried out from floating pontoons.
Richard Green-Morgan, Spencer’s off-site construction director, said: “We’re really excited to have started work on this important project in our home city, which will help raise awareness of Hull’s fantastic history. The Spurn Lightship is a truly iconic vessel and an important part of the city’s maritime heritage, so we’re incredibly proud to be playing our part in making it accessible to the public when it’s in its new permanent home.
“We’re on track to complete the project in time for the lightship to be moved from its current temporary location on the marina to the new berth later in the summer.”
Hull City Council leader Mike Ross said: “Starting work on the new permanent berth for the Spurn Lightship is the final chapter in the restoration programme for the vessel. This is an exciting time, as preparations are well underway to re-open the much-loved attraction to visitors later in the year for everyone to explore following its restoration.
“With increased access and more and more to see, visitors will learn more about the lightship and what it was like to work on the vessel, navigating ships safely from the Humber.”
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