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Titanic’s ‘little sister’ may miss anniversary refit date
Wednesday, 24 June 2009
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The £7m restoration of a tender ship that ferried passengers on board the doomed Titanic may not be finished in time for the centenary of its launch, an official report warns today.
The charitable trust responsible for refitting the derelict SS Nomadic, known as Titanic’s ‘little sister’, is also struggling to meet a fundraising target of £5m by this autumn — having received less than £1.4m by the start of the year.
It was intended the vessel would be open to the public in Belfast's docklands ahead of the much-hyped 100th anniversary of the day the Titanic rolled down the slipway at Harland and Wolff in May, 1911. But auditors today cast doubt on whether the refit of the tender ship would be completed on schedule.
In a report on the Government spend on the tender since it was rescued from a wreckers' yard in France three years ago, the Northern Ireland Audit Office said the restoration target of 2011 was “challenging”.
“The (Nomadic Charitable) Trust's action plan for the restoration phase indicates that work is to commence December 2009 and is to be completed ahead of the centenary celebrations,” comptroller and auditor general John Dowdall said. “This will be a challenging target for the Trust.”
Mr Dowdall raised concern that there still appeared to be no formal agreements between the Department for Social Development and the Trust for the transfer of ownership.
“Although it was a condition of DFP (Department of Finance and Personnel) approval (for the project) that the Nomadic should be transferred to the Charitable Trust as soon as was possible after the acquisition, the department still retains ownership more than three years on,” he said.
Mr Dowdall said the initial business case was “over-optimistic and did not include the full range of costs”.
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My wife & I & son & my brother are all volunteer crew members of Project Liberty Ship, S.S. John W. Brown, in Balt, MD. USA.
This is a WW 11 Liberty Ship being restored by an all volunteer crew, to date over 1 mn. hours have been spent on this project, she has been sea going now for over 10 years and we are all very proud of our continuing work.
My wife and I visted Nomadic in 2007 and talked with Mr. Snowdon. I served my time in H&W as a fitter, we are both from NI.
Please contact me for info.
Posted by Henry C Gordon | 28.06.09, 19:08 GMT
before the nomadic was moved over here to N.Ireland I received a report from one of our members of the Shannon Ulster Titanic Society that the ship was a rust bucket,and not worth buying,I did put this in print and tried to warn but nobody took any notice,so now we have three ships in Ulster,which are lying derelect,at public expense.That I know of.
Posted by patrick.j.toms | 25.06.09, 05:25 GMT
for your questions below, see: www.nomadicpreservationsociety.co.uk
this group is dedicated to having this vessel restored to her original condition, but I must state they do not have any power in how this is done or any say in how th Nomadic Charitable Trust restore the vessel. It is upto the NCT on how little or how much is done.!
Posted by John White | 24.06.09, 21:41 GMT
Agree with Paul here. Unfortunately the Government is very selective when it comes to listening to the people of Northern Ireland. A small cabal of 'train-spotters' announce an overly ambitious project that will cost the tax-payer millions and they throw money while peolpe remain homeless. The public cries out that they disagree with the Education Minister's proposed 'way ahead' and nothing is done. Perhaps they have money tied up in the decisions (apartments in Titanic Quarter, who knows)?
Posted by Nate | 24.06.09, 10:29 GMT
Are you getting it yet? - There is no grass roots support or interest in this tenuous project.
Posted by Paul | 24.06.09, 09:50 GMT
I would propose that not a penny of tax-payers' money be spent on this until a full costing was completed, along with a value-for-money review. The lack of enthusiasm by the public in these Titanic themed projects is reflected in the Charity's performance towards their £5m target. What we do not want is yet another bail-out of an unsuccessful scheme.
Posted by Bemused | 24.06.09, 09:06 GMT
I would propose a call to action 'round the world reaching out to Titanic Societies, groups, lovers to emplore them to help raise money to restore this precious link to the Titanic. Maybe offer people/groups the opportunity to have their names displayed on special plate the boat when it is finished for their financial support.
Posted by Margaret Brown-Micoff | 24.06.09, 03:38 GMT
I would propose a call to action 'round the world reaching out to Titanic Societies, groups, lovers to emplore them to help raise money to restore this precious link to the Titanic. Maybe offer people/groups the opportunity to have their names displayed on special plate the boat when it is finished for their financial support.
Posted by Margaret Brown-Micoff | 24.06.09, 03:38 GMT