The Royal Navy has agreed to relocate a harbour training ship from a harbour pinch point to help with the expansion of Portsmouth International Port. HMS Bristol will be moved 140m to the east of her current berth on Whale Island, with Portsmouth City Council, which owns and operates the commercial port, paying for a new mooring and associated construction work.
The relocation, which will coincide with a dredging programme to enable larger passenger ships to use the port over a wider range of tides, will increase the turning circle for manoeuvring vessels by 90m. The project is due to start in late November for completion by February 2013.
After 18 years of frontline service, and except for a few months in 2010 when she went to Tyneside for a refit, the Type 82 destroyer has been a permanent fixture as a non-seagoing training ship since 1991.
