Arctic Corsair sent along Humber as heritage trip begins
SHIP TO BE TRANSFORMED AS PART OF £30M TOURISM PLAN
THE UK’S last surviving deep-water sidewinder trawler, the Arctic Corsair, has been towed along the Humber in a monumental trip.
As part of the £30.3m Hull: Yorkshire’s Maritime City project, the ship will undergo restoration work after she was safely moved to Hull’s William Wright Dock on Wednesday night.
Once repaired, the vessel will go on display in a dry dock.
The trawler was manoeuvred from her berth on Alexandra Dock at around 5pm on Wednesday, October 6, before being towed along the Humber.
The historic vessel was towed by two tugs from Hull-based SMS Towage.
She is now berthed at Dunston’s shipyard where she will undergo major a major refurbishment by Dunston Ship Repairs, before making a final journey to a new permanent home in a dry dock on the River Hull.
Once restoration works are complete, the Arctic Corsair will move to its final berth at the North End
Shipyard, where the vessel will re-open as a heritage centre as the centrepiece of a new visitor attraction.
The Arctic Corsair was built Beverley in 1960 for the Boyd Line.
Over time, the trawler built a historic career, from a world record catch in 1973, to conflict and collision in the Cod Wars between 1957 and 1977.
The ship is a symbol of the city’s trawling past and the thousands of men and boys from Hull who never made it home during the city’s active fishing industry.
It was last moved from its original berth in August 2019, which saw the trawler moved for the first time in 20 years.
The Arctic Corsair and a new purpose-built visitor attraction will open to the public in 2023.
The Hull Maritime project is co-funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund and Hull City Council.
This week’s towing operation went without a hitch following last a postponement of the scheduled move of the Spurn lightship because of bad weather.