Re Ormemacs link today.......
White Funnel Limited regrets to announce that MV Balmoral will not be sailing next season.2018 The
Maritime & Coastguard Agency (MCA) has recently made clear that the type of hull re-plating work
undertaken and approved over many years is no longer acceptable and needs to be changed before
she operates again. This work is expensive and exceeds the resources currently available to the
owning charity, MV Balmoral Fund Limited.
The charity has recently submitted a bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund for £3.72m for major capital
work that will also improve educational facilities aboard the ship, restore heritage features which need
refurbishment and make crew accommodation better suited to current requirements. The work will
also ensure that Balmoral complies with changes to regulations affecting heritage ships which the
Maritime & Coastguard Agency is currently developing. The temporary suspension of operation will
enable the owning charity to concentrate on fund-raising and the Heritage Lottery Fund bid.
During this interim period the White Funnel offices will be closed until further notice. Holders of
concessionary or complimentary tickets and vouchers should retain these for use when Balmoral
returns to service. Suppliers should address any correspondence to balmoral@whitefunnel.co.uk
We regret that with the closure of the Bristol office no other correspondence can be entered into. For
details of the charity’s appeal and news, please refer to its website,
www.mvbalmoral.org.uk . To
receive news of progress and future plans please register to receive the charity’s newsletter at
www.heritagesteamers.co.uk/balmoral/news.htmWe thank all our passengers, suppliers and a wide range of others for their unwavering support for
the ship over the past three seasons since we returned Balmoral to service in 2015. We very much
hope we can continue to rely on your support in the future.