A METAL manufacturer has stepped in to provide steel for a historic ship in the region.

The HMS Trincomalee in Hartlepool is due to have a set of cross-masts put up later this year, and the extra weight will make the ship less stable.

So Corus Special Profiles has donated about 50 tonnes of heavy ballast to put in the hold of the ship.

The company arranged for the steel from its plant in Skinningrove, Cleveland, to be transported to Hartlepool construction company Heerema, which cut up the steel before it went into the ship.

Bryn Hughes, general manager of the HMS Trincomalee Trust, said: "This is a really fantastic donation by Corus.

"In the old days, all kinds of old materials would have helped to ballast the ship, and with a crew and stores for 240, she would already have been lower in the water."

Geoff Lofthouse, of Corus, said: "The HMS Trincomalee is very important in helping to promote the renaissance of the Tees Valley area."

Published: 24/03/2005