Spurn Lightship to reopen next year after delay

The Spurn Lightship was due to reopen to the public as a floating museum last year

The leader of Hull City Council said he hoped the Spurn Lightship would reopen to the public by next Spring after months of delays.

The historical ship, built in 1927, returned to Hull Marina in March 2023 after a 14-month restoration.

It was meant to reopen as a floating museum in spring 2024 but council leader Mike Ross said it had been a "real challenge" finding a contractor to improve the area outside the vessel so that people could access the ship.

However, he said: "Now we have a company coming on board. The work will take place over the next few months and, if it gets completed to time, we look forward to welcoming people back on the Spurn Lightship in spring 2026."

Former skipper, Terence Thresh, says you knew you were nearly home when you saw the Spurn Lightship out in the Humber estuary.

The Spurn Lightship served as a floating lighthouse on the Humber estuary for almost 50 years.

Former Hull skipper Terence Thresh, who worked onboard a number of ships from 1950, said: "When you saw the lightship, you were home. It was as simple as that.

"It had a big fog signal like some of the lighthouses had so it did have a purpose. There was no doubt about that.

"The city has a maritime port and it's had this lightship that was there as a beacon for everyone coming in and out of the Humber, so it played an important part in the heritage in the city."

The lightship closed to visitors in 2018 and has undergone major works, which the council said would protect it for the next 100 years.

Ross said: "A brilliant job has been done on the Spurn Lightship and we now need to get the area around it ready so that people can actually get on to the Spurn ship herself.

"The conditions we have with the A63 on one side and water to the other means accessing this site is incredibly complicated so it's been a real challenge finding an organisation willing to take on this work."

The project is part of the £30m Hull Maritime scheme which also includes the refurbishment of Hull Maritime Museum, a new attraction at North End shipyard and a new home for the restored Arctic Corsair.

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