A VINTAGE passenger ship’s trustees have launched a £3.75m Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) bid to secure its long-term future, after being forced to scrap all sailings for next year.

A £450,000 appeal was made only last month to prepare the MV Balmoral for the 2018 season, but the plug has now been pulled on sailings after the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) refused to issue a passenger certificate.

The 68-year-old Bristol-based boat is a regular visitor to Lydney during its summer sailings, but suffered a string of bad luck this year with mechanical breakdowns and bad weather forcing more than half of its scheduled trips to be cancelled.

And new rule changes now mean repairs to the hull of the former Isle of Wight ferry have to be redone if she is to put to sea again with passengers.

Launching the Lottery bid, MV Balmoral trustee Dave Bassett said: “We have been aware for some time from our discussions with the MCA that substantial and costly improvements would need to be made to the crew accommodation before the 2019 season.

“We have also more recently been advised that the long accepted practice of using doubled plates to repair the hull was no longer acceptable for anything other than emergency repairs.

“This not only applies to future repairs, but also means that previous repairs need to be removed and redone, and the very considerable cost of this work is included in our £3.75m bid.

“If the bid is successful, we would expect to have to raise £375,000 in match funding – some of which might be provided by costing in volunteer time.

“We expect some indication from the HLF by next March whether our bid can be progressed and, if so, would be required to develop this into a “second stage bid” by August.”

He said the trustees had hoped to be able to tackle the doubled plates issue immediately before the 2019 season, but the MCA has now ruled that it will not issue a passenger certificate until the work has been done on the boat, which was the National Historic Ships Register’s flagship of the year in 2016.

“We do not have the funds to undertake this work in time for the 2018 season, and until HLF funding becomes available, the work cannot be put in hand,” said Mr Bassett.

“MV Balmoral will therefore unfortunately not be able to sail in 2018.”

The ship, which can carry 800 passengers, is currently berthed beside the M Shed in Bristol Harbour.

The harbourside events volunteer team is organising social and money raising events on board, while the boat is also set to host a number of lettings to outside organisations.

The maintenance volunteer team who usually work on Tuesdays and Fridays is also looking for more help, while the appeal launched last month is still open to help with maintenance.

Donations can be made through the www.mvbalmoral.org.uk website or by cheque made out to MV Balmoral Fund Ltd sent to 23, Adder Hill, Great Boughton, Chester CH3 5RA.

Meanwhile, there is good news for another vintage ship which was a rusting hulk when she was towed away from her Newnham mooring last year after 20 years mouldering on the banks of the Severn.

Built a year after the end of the Second World War as a Royal Navy support vessel, the SS Freshspring is now well on its way to full restoration and a new life as a tourist attraction in Bideford, Devon.

A £61,000 Lottery grant has been awarded to the SS Freshspring Society for the steamship’s two-year programme to relaunch the old cargo ship as a passenger-carrying heritage attraction.

John Puddy, trust chairman, said: “This is a huge step forward for the trust. The National Lottery grant was substantially matched in Devon by Torridge District Council, Bideford Bridge Trust and The Balsdon Trust, demonstrating very considerable local support.

“In addition, match funds have been awarded by The Headley Trust along with individual trust membership support.

The Freshsping was based in Malta until 1967 before moving to the Navy’s Devonport docks. She was sold in 1979 to a private owner who towed her to Bristol, before she was later moved to Newnham after thieves had stolen many of the wheelhouse fittings.