The new official Kellington association web site is now online. follow the link below to be directed there.

The Kellington Association

Our forum pages are at this link

In view that this site still appears to be the one most people visit, We are placing a short update daily.

24th April 2009 

We are still fighting for the restoration of the ship. We are going to place a report on this site over the weekend as to our views. We have spoken to the BBC who we where told would speak to the council then get back to us and print our side. We are still waiting and will re-contact the BBC in the forthcoming days.

We have also been informed by a reliable source that the ship is no longer the property of the Stockton Sea Cadets. But ownership has been passed onto Area Command in Rosyth. This tends to place a completely new dimension to things.

We as a society are asking a few questions to start with.

1/ who is footing the bill for this, we have asked this question many times. When we first approached the authorities regarding the ship we had to have a business plan in order, full costings and proof of where the backing was from. The council however seem to be able to not have to tell anyone who is paying for the scrapping and all the work which has been done to make the vessel safe over the past few weeks. They have however now and from Easter provided a security guard for the ship. It is a shame this could not have been done well before now and maybe the ship would not have got in the state she was in.

2/ There has been no “Condemnation Certificate” issued for this vessel from before the date when work started. As far as we know, there is still no certificate in circulation. If this is the case, the ship needs all the relevant permissions to dismantle her. In addition, these permissions do need to be dated before work began. It has been reported that Able UK is doing the work free of charge. If this is so why have not Able said this to anyone of the press.

3/ as far as we know the Charity commission was not told of the disposal of a charitable asset before it was disposed of. This is been looked into by the Charity commission now.

This is just three questions, which we believe need answering. Our society was to and still is trying to restore the vessel back to Lloyd’s 100a1 condition at NO COST to ANY of the businesses or associations councils etc. The money was to come from private backers and not government funds or local pockets. It would provide 12 full time jobs and 24 apprenticeships. Plus on completion of the project/restoration it would also provide extra jobs in staffing the training side of the project which is estimated at around a further 18 full time jobs. And a full time crew for the ship.

Shipyards in Middlesbrough are now all but gone with the exceptions of a few smaller firms fighting for any work available. Our project is estimated at around the 2 million pound mark and will keep a yard working for a estimated time of 8 to 12 month.

20th April 2009

Since the last update, we have been working hard behind the scenes. We have obtained the memorandum of agreements last Wednesday from our Legal representative. In addition, following on from this we spoke to the Sea Cadets at Stockton.

The meeting with them went as we expected in many ways. Unfortunately, the Stockton sea cadets cannot make any comments or decisions on the ship as they now have to go through Area at Rosyth. The Society and several members have tried to contact Commander Colin Redstone who we have been told is still dealing with the ship but has been away until today 20^th April 2009.

As many people will appreciate, our phones have been ringing of the cradles and many emails with questions and requests for information. Our position is the same as it has always been. We are still looking to save the ship and STOP Able from cutting her up. We have contacted Rosyth this morning and been told someone will contact us before the day is out. (Our impression of this is that they do not seem to be able to talk either).

We have several questions unanswered by anyone.

1/ If the ship was attacked by vandals just before the Easter Holliday why is there no police investigation? We are not talking of a few quid nicked from a car here, we are talking major damage to a vessel causing utmost amounts of money to correct, if we are to believe that they tried to sink it. Also if it was a vandal attack why is it not on the so-called security camera pointing towards the ship?  Also where is the graffiti which always seems to accompany vandals.

2/ How come now all of a sudden with the ship on a list (not resting on dockside like is reported in a few papers) has it been possible for a security watch to be placed on the ship and not allowing any access at all now?

3/ Who has placed a report in papers that the Kellington is now leaking oil? As far as we are concerned, there is no oil spill at all. In addition, we have been watching the ship all over Easter and last week.

4/ One minuet there is massive amounts of contaminates on board the ship, now apparently they have disappeared. Maybe the so-called vandals stole them. We know there is asbestos on the ship in forms of lagging and gaskets but what other contaminates is there supposed to be?

5/ Who is paying for the scrapping now? The MOD? I doubt it as according to them they are not allowed to as this would be a misappropriation of public funds. The Council? Do they have this amount of money to spend? The sea cadets? Would they spend such a vast amount of cash, and can they afford it? The Tax Payer? It is more than possible that this is where the money is going to come from.  

There are a hundred more questions to be asked and answered, now may not be the time to do this. We have been told that should the ship finally be scrapped where she is there IS going to be a public enquiry called for by high ranking MOD/RN Officials and Government officers.

We are still trying and will not give up until she has gone. Unlike so many we do not step back when things do not work out we keep going. The easy option is to like many walk away, but we feel it is worthy of a fight and we will keep going .

Yesterday we visited the ship and can report that she is in a stable condition, she is far from listing as pictures used in the media show. The ship did have a heavy list to Starboard but since she has been pumped out is now almost level. The pumps have not been running since Saturday to us this shows that there is little or no ingress of water to the ship.

We are still very active in the effort to save the ship, if this ship does go it has to be noted there will be only one left in British waterways. We do not intend to let this happen.

The following is a report issued by us on Sunday:

Sunday 12 April 12, 2009

Today’s update is a bit late but things have not been going at any speed due mainly to the bank holiday.

The events that have taken place has been a unfortunate timing for us, as the possibility of speaking to anyone is hard due to the fact no one is around for the bank holiday weekend. We have attempted to speak to Commander Redstone with no response from the Cadet Society in Rosyth at all. We are also in contact with Able UK with the same problem, key people we need to speak to are away until Tuesday Morning. We have been told that a representative of Able will phone us today but as yet no phone call. 

Our position is the same as we where, we will not stand back and watch a ship that does not need scrapping be scrapped by a council who it is more than ever proved do not count there maritime heritage as important. In order to prove this please read the following. There is no mention at all about maritime or nautical heritage in there future plans. This is maybe why they have got rid of any sign of this. We will be issuing a full long statement to this effect later 

View Cabinet Decision Record

Cabinet Decision: 5th March 2009

Title of Item/Report

Stockton Heritage Strategy and Action Plan

Record of the Decision

Cabinet considered a report relating to the development of a Stockton Heritage Strategy and action plan.

It was explained that there were many local and regional strategies relating to heritage, and activities which celebrated Stockton's history, but they were not brought together in any one plan, and there were gaps. New technology had generated new opportunities for Stockton to connect and reveal aspects of history, and to release a wealth of knowledge and information from local people.

Cabinet was given details of the current position and also the proposed development of a new encompassing strategy for heritage, based around five heritage themes:

· Early Stockton, iron-age, Roman and Saxon Stockton
· Railway and engineering heritage including petrochemical industries
· Our World War I and II contribution
· Plaques, trails and interpretation in the landscape
· Recent/Living history and community interest in heritage 

Full report http://www.egenda.stockton.gov.uk/aksstockton/users/public/admin/kab10.pl?cmte=&operation=DETAIL&cdr_id=D090034&phase=two&arc=&meet=

We have been told off the record by a Able representative that the ship was apparently holed in two places. The first was when a Heat Exchange was been removed and breached the Hull of the ship, this has been repaired by workers now. the second hole is what we believe to be the plug inserted by the MOD to stop any water entering the ship, We believe this plug has been removed. 

The latest news we have on the ship is that the she is not leaning as much now after she was again pumped out yesterday by pumps on deck.

The pumps where in fact pumping water straight out into the river so we assume that any environmental issues are not required for the council but are required for anyone else. There is a small oil slick to the rear of the ship at this moment. 

The ship is been watched by a council CCTV van and is not allowing anyone on board. The local group of Stockton Sea Cadets, the ships owners have been told not to speak to anyone regarding the ship or events taking place. 

We are however in talks with our own legal team who are coming down to Stockton on Wednesday to do whatever is possible to save the ship. Able UK are to begin work we believe on Tuesday . Friends of the Earth have also shown a interest in the situation we are told and are also looking into why it is been allowed to be scrapped without any kind of permissions in place. (our legal team is also checking paperwork).  

Our intention as a society is still to

1. Purchase the ship from Stockton Sea Cadets or any other authorised person, group or Company
2. Restore her back to what she was
3. Turn her into a state of the art training ship
4. Create at least 12 full time jobs and a large amount of apprenticeships.
5. Not give up on the ship unlike so many others

We will be making a report tomorrow of any new events and make sure everyone is informed of any actions we are taking now and in the future to save the ship.

July 4th 2008, news article added and our report of last month meeting with Stockton council. CLICK HERE

We have almost finished our revised plan for the lifting of the Kellington Fromm the river where she is to the lower side of the same river in order to get her to a dry dock and restoration work.

The Kellington Association is growing in numbers, Many have asked why we are not fighting this through the press, We want to point out we do not intend to do this at the present time. We have also refused a TV interview regarding the Kellington and proposals.

It may seem that we are not doing anything but behind the scenes there is a lot of research into various aspects of this and events past and present. We have not taken our fInger of the ball and we do not intend to give up on this project.

Please keep watching for new updates and information