SS Explorer Awarded £157,115 National Lottery Heritage Fund Grant
Campaign to preserve Scotland’s first purpose-built Fisheries Research Vessel nets vital funding.
The SS Explorer Preservation Society is delighted to announce that it has been awarded a grant of £157,115 from The National Lottery Heritage Fund to enable us to protect and preserve SS Explorer – one of Scotland’s National Historic Ships.
SS Explorer, built in 1955, is Scotland’s first purpose-built Fisheries Research Vessel, the last vessel with a riveted steel hull built by Alexander Hall & Co’s shipyard in Aberdeen with one of the last triple-expansion steam engines built in Scotland, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Ships. However, the vessel’s true significance lies in its scientific legacy through research in marine biology, fish stock assessment, pollution monitoring and climate change studies.
At a time when SS Explorer – currently berthed in the Edinburgh Dock in the Port of Leith – is taking an active part in the Edinburgh Science Festival and the Society has welcomed aboard a record number of visitors, the funding award from The National Lottery Heritage Fund will make it possible to continue to preserve SS Explorer, protect the vessel against further deterioration, expand our community outreach and strengthen our organisation for the major works programme required to achieve our vision. We will also commission a feasibility study addressing the sustainability of the ship in its future role as a museum ship and visitor destination.
Completion of this stage will be followed by moving the ship to a new publicly accessible berth in the Edinburgh Dock as the area is redeveloped into a new residential and leisure community.
Richard Morrison, Chair of the SS Explorer Preservation Society said:
“We are absolutely delighted to have secured this funding from the Heritage Fund and would like to thank National Lottery players who made it possible.
“Our volunteers and supporters work incredibly hard and share a vision of Explorer playing a role that goes beyond being a historic ship and heritage attraction. Fascinating and important as her history is this project is just as much about her future as an asset to Leith. A learning resource, an opportunity for people to get involved, to learn new skills, and to make new community connections.”
As the local constituency MSP for Leith, Ben Macpherson MSP said:
“I am extremely pleased that the National Lottery Heritage Fund has chosen to allocate this grant. This funding brings timely support to the SS Explorer Preservation Society’s sustained efforts to ensure the future of one of Scotland’s unique historic ships and convert it into a local visitor attraction. Using this funding award, in the near future Leith can look forward to the implementation of the next crucial stage in the process of
turning the SS Explorer into an accessible, engaging heritage landmark in its home port. I have been proud to support the SS Explorer Preservation Society’s ambitions for several years, and congratulate and thank all of those involved in achieving this recent success in driving the project forward.”
Caroline Clark, The National Lottery Heritage Fund Director for Scotland, said:
"Through four decades the SS Explorer, as the first purpose built Scottish Fisheries Research Vessel, collected data that now gives us invaluable information about our seas and underlines its significance to Scotland's maritime and scientific heritage.
"Thanks to National Lottery players this funding will support the Preservation Society to help save the SS Explorer, tackling immediate repair needs while moving forward their plans to bring SS Explorer back into service once again, this time as a significant heritage attraction in Leith and a valuable community resource."
About Explorer
A pioneer in climate science and biodiversity work, the steamship Explorer was in service for Marine Lab Torry, part of the Scottish Home Department, from 1956 to 1984. Its scientific mission was to investigate British fish breeding and feeding grounds to better understand fishing levels and species types in support of the Scottish fishing industry. The ship also monitored pollution, sea temperature, and fish diseases that might adversely affect catches. The valuable scientific work conducted on board by many eminent scientists continues today to contribute to our knowledge of oceanography, marine life and the importance of maintaining healthy oceans. It was the first ship to carry a computer on board to help with processing the huge amounts of data the scientists were generating at sea.
To find out more about our plans or to support us through volunteering or donations please visit https://www.theexplorer.scot/ . For further information, please contact our chair Richard Morrison, mail@theexplorer.scot
Notes to editors:
FRV Explorer was built in Aberdeen by shipbuilder Alexander Hall & Sons in 1955. It was registered in Leith, but worked for scientists based at the Marine Lab, Torry, near Aberdeen until it was decommissioned in 1984. Saved from the scrapyard by Aberdeen Maritime Museum, when plans to display the ship in Aberdeen failed, it came into the ownership of the SS Explorer Preservation Society (SSEPS) and moved to Leith Docks.
SSEPS, the Steamship Explorer Preservation Society is a volunteer-run charity SCO23518
4. Photographs of the ship in service at sea carrying out marine science work, as well as more recent images are available for publication without charge.
About The National Lottery Heritage Fund
Our vision is for heritage to be valued, cared for and sustained for everyone, now and in the future. That’s why as the largest funder for the UK’s heritage we are dedicated to supporting projects that connect people and communities to heritage, as set out in our strategic plan, Heritage 2033. Heritage can be anything from the past that people value and want to pass on to future generations. We believe in the power of heritage to ignite the imagination, offer joy and inspiration, and to build pride in place and connection to the past.
Over the next 10 years, we aim to invest £3.6billion raised for good causes by National Lottery players to make a decisive difference for people, places and communities.
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Download the press release (PDF) here.
