New gate for Hull dry dock as part of £30m maritime attraction plans

The dry dock gate has become dilapidated and needs replacing as part of the North End Shipyard redevelopment

A dry dock gate in Hull is to be replaced as part of preparation work for a major new visitor attraction.

The work is part of a wider redevelopment of the North End Shipyard ahead of the arrival of Hull's last sidewinder trawler the Arctic Corsair.

The craft will be moved there permanently as part of a multi-million pound maritime regeneration project.

The gate at the former Queen's Dock Basin, at Dock Office Row in the Old Town, was dilapidated, officials said.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, the riverside face of the new gate will be finished with steel sheet piles so it looks similar to the current one when viewed from across the River Hull.

A rubber seal will also be placed around it to stop water from the river from getting into the berth.

The existing gate on the dry dock, which underwent modern alterations during the last century, will only be lowered once, for the berthing of the Arctic Corsair.

The gate will be replaced as part of work creating a new visitor centre at the historic shipyard site in Hull

The renovated trawler is to be part of a £30m project to preserve Hull's maritime history at the North End Shipyard, along with the refurbished Spurn Lightship.

The Arctic Corsair, which previously opened as a visitor attraction on the River Hull in 1999, was caught up in the Cod Wars with Iceland in the 1970s.

It also broke a record for landing the most cod and haddock caught in Russia's White Sea in 1973, according to National Historic Ships UK.

The North End Shipyard sat close to the North Gate of the Medieval Walls which ran around what is now the Old Town and dock berths are visible there on the Hollar Map of Hull, which dates from 1640.

Plans for the new visitor attraction also include the transformation of Hull Maritime Museum, the creation of a collections store at the Dock Office Chambers and a new Orientation Centre for visitors.

The restoration of a Scotch Derrick Crane, which was used at the shipyard, is also among efforts to prepare the site for visitors when the site is set to open next year.