All aboard the Britannia after major spruce up

The ship is back at her permanent berth at Ocean Terminal following a spell in dry dock nearby for routine maintenance and repainting.

Fire crews had to be called last month to pump out water after Britannia started listing as she was being moved to the dry dock. A faulty door seal blamed for the incident has now been fixed.

More than 2500 litres of paint and hundreds of man hours went into the work, and the five-star visitor attraction is due to open to the public again from 10am tomorrow.

Bob Downie, chief executive of the Britannia, said: “It’s great to have Britannia back at her permanent berth and ready to open to the public again after undertaking an enormous amount of work whilst we were closed to the public.

“The good news is that our insurance surveyors have given Britannia’s hull a very clean bill of health and it should be another 20 years before having to go back into dry dock.

“We have also taken the opportunity to repaint the masts and funnel, as well as many other jobs on the visitor route that could only be done whilst closed to the public.”