Friends of TS Queen Mary, a charity set up in 2012 to save the former Clyde turbine, have awarded the pre-tow repair contract to Dales Marine of Greenock. The charity said several tenders were received from across the UK, with Dales Marine offering the best value. Work on preparing the ship for her long-awaited return to the Clyde was due to begin on April 11. She is currently at Tilbury Docks on the Thames.
The aim is to transform her into one of the UK’s largest interactive maritime exhibits. The charity also hopes to raise revenue by making the ship Glasgow’s most unusual dining, wedding, corporate function and arts venues.
The Denny-built ship, which had been lying derelict at Tilbury since 2012, passed into the ownership of Friends of TS Queen Mary on 21 October 2015. Before the purchase, the charity had her surveyed (with representatives of the MCA, Ferguson Marine and V Ships), and have since been dealing with a multiplicity of technical and fundraising issues. Donors include Denholms, the Glasgow-based ship management company, which gifted £2,000, and Cunard, which will be donating spare furnishings and fittings from their liner Queen Mary 2.
Friends of TS Queen Mary have invited enthusiasts to contribute to a debate about the livery of the refitted ship, asking “what would your choice of colour scheme be for hull and funnels?”.
Queen Mary II at Tighnabruaich in 1974. She had the suffix ‘II’ attached to her name between 1935 and 1976, and appeared with a single funnel between reboilering in 1957 and her transfer to the Thames in 1981. CRSC copyright photo
Published on 10 April 2016