Once it was at the heart of the North-East party scene while moored on the rivers Tyne and Tees, but these days the Tuxedo Royale is a ramshackle shell, stripped of nearly all of its valuable metals. Graeme Hetherington meets the team of volunteers attempting to bring it back to its former glory

LISTING in a shallow dock on the River Tees, the Tuxedo Royale is a shadow of its former self. Evidence of targeted theft and vandalism is clear to see, with broken glass strewn across its decks and wire cabling hanging loose.

In its heyday, thousands of people drank, partied and danced on its legendary revolving dance floor.

However, before it was a haven for party lovers, the ship ferried people from Dover to Calais as the flagship TSS Dover, before it was decommissioned and was destined to be scrapped. The turbine-powered vessel, launched in 1965, is one of the last of its kind.

Now John Coates is calling on everyone with a past association with the 369ft vessel to help make it shipshape once again.

“What we are trying to do is refloat the ship and get it moved to a dry dock where we can work on bringing it back to life,” he said. “Ideally, we want to be able to get it back to sea, but the first thing we need to do is get it out of the water and away from the metal thieves.

“Less than a year ago, we could have fired up the generators and opened it back up, but now when you look at it you would hardly believe it.”

Despite the precarious position of the ship, it would not take that much to get it back on an even keel. However, like everything else at the moment, the problem is securing funding.

Making matters worse is the fact that thieves are coming on board and taking their fill of copper, brass and stainless steel.

Mr Coates, who worked on the last refit of the Tuxedo Royale when it arrived on Teesside, said: “The metal thieves have been spending hours onboard, stripping wiring and anything else they can get their hands on.

“They hacksawed through the brass bars on about 100 portholes – then came back and removed nearly all the potholes as well.

“Every time we come back to check on her, we find her in a worse state. These people are even bringing sleeping bags and old duvets on board while they are stealing everything.

“It is really heartbreaking to see some of the work that I did myself being pulled to pieces just for the sake of some scrap metal.”

Despite this, Mr Coates hopes that he will be able to persuade businesses and training firms to go on board and bring the Tuxedo Royale back to working condition.

“We are busy trying to arrange ways of funding the project, but at the moment the most important thing is getting it into a dry dock,” he said. “Hopefully, local businesses or companies that were involved in the original building process, will want to get involved and preserve this piece of North-East history.

“Another thing we are looking at is involving local engineering training centres, so apprentices can gain experience of working on a ship, as opposed to merely in a workshop, because there is nothing like genuine hands-on experience to improve skills.

“There are loads of young men looking to learn skills and hundreds of skilled craftsmen who have not been able to work in a shipyard for more than 20 years who are desperate to pass on their knowledge before it dies.

“The North-East was the birthplace of many ships and the dockyards in the region played a pivotal role in exporting coal around the world.

This could be one of the last chances we have to relive the glory days and help to restore this historic ship.”

THE floating nightclub arrived at Middlesbrough Dock from Tyneside in March 2000. It lasted for six years before Tees Valley Regeneration negotiated for it to be moved to allow the continued development of the Middlehaven site.

The ship was taken to Hartlepool for temporary storage, but has now returned to Middlesbrough and is berthed in an Able UK dock.

“We need to find £200,000 to get it into the dry dock, then we can really start to look at ways of restoring it,” said Mr Coates. “In its heyday, there were plenty of local celebrities and footballers who were among the regular visitors to the Tuxedo Royale. Hopefully, these people won’t mind putting their hands in their pockets to help raise enough money to get the project up and running.

“We don’t want to turn it back into a nightclub – we want to see it restored to the condition it was when it was a ferry.”

Anyone wanting further information about the scheme is asked to call Mr Coates on 07852- 301314 or visit tssdover.co.uk