During the summer, Medway Queen was appointed South East Regional Flagship for 2020 by National Historic Ships UK, in great company with HMS Belfast as National Flagship and with the three other Regional Flagships: the tall ship Zebu, SS Explorer and MV Spartan.
As the lockdown was eased and the project came back to life, the MQ President, Admiral Lord West, ceremonially unfurled the ‘flagship pennant’ on Monday 19 October 2020 in the presence of the Mayor of Medway, Cllr. Habib Tejan.
It proved to be a busy day with the MQPS ‘virtual’ AGM, and a Trustee Board meeting planned for the same day. In order to stay within the Covid restrictions and not endanger volunteers or members of the public, a small ceremony with just a couple of invited guests was held.
Despite a complete cessation of workshop activity until late summer, work on the ship has continued. EAPL (Chatham) were contracted to over-plate the deck, to keep the rain out. It was also planned to repaint the ship’s hull but the weather window was missed on that one.
