From Portsmouth to Lake Victoria - vessel repurposed by UK Docks makes 4,000 mile trip

HOSPITAL ship MV Lady Jean, formerly HMS Scimitar, has completed a 4,000-mile journey from Portsmouth to East Africa by sea and road and is now beginning a new work life on Lake Victoria.

It’s arrival comes after a team from UK Docks Marine Services at Endeavour Quay in Gosport spent the past year repurposing the former Royal Navy vessel, which spent most of its service life patrolling the waters around Gibraltar.

MV Lady Jean prepares to leave Mombasa on long overland journey to Lake Victoria

UK Docks’ work for the Vine Trust Charity, supported by Babcock and the local supply chain, required plenty of thinking outside the box and innovation to solve the multiple challenges in converting the HMS Scimitar into a medical supply vessel.

The biggest obstacle was finding an engine to fit the former patrol ship, and UK Docks scoured Europe before sourcing one in Holland, which was brought to Gosport and successfully installed.

After coming through sea trials with flying colours, the MV Lady Jean was initially transported to Mombasa, Kenya, on the West coast of Africa but has now made it all the way across to Lake Victoria in the southeast of the continent, where she will provide services to thousands of local people.

The Vine Trust is an international development charity that works with long-term Peruvian and Tanzanian partners to strengthen health systems and implement construction projects in isolated and vulnerable communities in the Amazon and on Lake Victoria.

She will enter into service with the Jubilee Hope Medical Programme, significantly increasing its capacity to reach patients on the remote islands of Tanzanian Lake Victoria.

A significant part of the vessel’s work will be to create a new supply chain of life-saving medication (antiretrovirals) for people living with HIV, as well as enhancing existing testing, counselling and treatment services provided by the programme.

Reflecting on the successful delivery of the vessel, Kenny Holt, chief executive of the Vine Trust said: “I would like to thank UK Docks on behalf of Vine Trust and our partners in Tanzania.  

“We are incredibly grateful to UK Docks for all their excellent work in helping to transform the MV Lady Jean into a first-class medical vessel.  

“In the next few years, the ship will deliver hundreds of thousands of free medical services to people in remote and vulnerable island communities on Lake Victoria.  

“We are so grateful to the UK Docks team for their patience, support and creative solutions to bring this challenging project to completion.”

Charlie Barley, UK Docks director at Endeavour Quay, said: “We’re absolutely delighted that the job is now complete and the MV Lady Jean has arrived at Lake Victoria.

“To be honest, converting HMS Scimitar so that she would go on to a new role was a labour of love for our team and although there were some challenges along the way, we were determined the project would be a success.

“It’s one of those marine projects where everyone involved collaborated really well together because we were aware of the bigger picture.

“Vine Trust is a fantastic charity and it’s great that the MV Lady Jean will now go on to do so much to protect and improve health for thousands of people in the years to come.” 

After arriving in Kenya, the MV Lady Jean was loaded onto specialist transport for her long journey across Africa and will now operate as a mobile medical boat serving the numerous islands on the water. 

International defence company Babcock funded the year-long conversion and contracted the work out to UK Docks where she was equipped with a new generator, galley with fridges, ovens, sinks, serving areas and an air conditioning unit. Her wheelhouse was partly converted into a waiting room with additional seating.

Engineers completed a total redesign of the aft deck with guardrails, boarding steps and a boarding platform fitted to the transom to allow patients to board, with a new engine being sourced, stripped down and rebuilt using parts from HMS Scimitar’s original engine. 

UK Docks managing director Jonathan Wilson said: “Our company carries out servicing and maintenance of vessels from the North East down to the South Coast, and each project is unique in its own way. But the conversion of HMS Scimitar into the MV Lady Jean was particularly special. We would like to thank The Vine Trust and Babcock for entrusting us with the work and we wish the MV Lady Jean many further years of successful service.”

Public invited to see shape of things to come in Rum Store transformation

PEOPLE are being invited to see for themselves what the Rum Store regeneration on Victoria Quay in Gosport will look like and to give architects and planners their feedback.

A public consultation is being held at the Weevil Lane offices of UK Docks Marine Services, which owns the currently dilapidated building, on Tuesday, November 12 between 4 pm-7 pm.

And organisers are hoping that as many people as possible will come along to take an interest in the future of the historic, former naval building, which is set for an £22m investment, creating jobs and making the area a destination site for both businesses and visitors.

The consultation will involve storyboards which lay out the work that will be done ahead of the building’s reopening in 2026 and also a model of how the completed building will look.

An impression of what Gosport’s Rum Store will look like when it is restored to its former glory.

Ben Mason, portfolio manager at UK Docks, said: “We’re really looking forward to the consultation both in terms of showing visitors details of the plans for what’s going to happen and also listening to what they have to say about the development.

“The community's feedback from this consultation will help shape the proposals for the building, which will be submitted for planning approval later this year.

“We’re particularly keen to hear the views of those living near the site and those living in Gosport itself who we hope will be regular visitors once the Rum Store works are complete.

“We’re very excited about the work ahead because it will help bring this whole area back to life and return it to being the thriving hub of activity it once was.

“This will be very much a working building about we hope to make it a destination site for the marine industry base which we’ve already started to build here at Victoria Quay. Once completed, there will be many types of opportunity for leasing and it should be very attractive for businesses.

”So, it’s very important to explain to people exactly what will be happening over the next couple of years and also to hear the thoughts of the public on the plans.”

UK Docks Marine Services is leading the project alongside local firm Pritchard Architecture supported by Gosport Borough Council.

The historic former Royal Navy Rum Store as it currently stands.

Giles Pritchard, founder and director of Pritchard Architecture, an award-winning RIBA chartered practice based in Portsmouth, will also be at next week’s consultation event.

He said: “We are delighted to be working on this project to restore and reimagine the Rum Store - one of Gosport’s significant heritage assets and an important building in the story of the Royal Navy. 

“As a local architectural practice located just across Portsmouth Harbour, we have a great sense of pride in restoring this local building which has lain derelict for many years. 

“UK Docks had the ambition to bring the wider site back into marine use, and we are thrilled to be working alongside them with creativity and passion to realise this vision.”

Pritchard Architecture has an excellent track record of delivering a wide range of conservation, alteration and new build projects within a heritage setting. 

Giles added: “The practice is built on an understanding of the conservation principles needed to deliver successful projects to a high standard within a heritage setting. 

“At the outset of a project, we carry out research to understand the heritage and historic development of a building so we make the right decisions on repairs and alterations. 

“By understanding a site’s historic development, we can design solutions which enhance the building and its wider site whilst weathering beautifully in its existing setting.”

The Rum Store is certainly a prize project for any architect to work on, and all those involved are hoping Gosport people will take pride in seeing a grand, old structure brought back into use.

The building is one of the largest and most storied within the former Royal Clarence Yard, and the project will breathe new life into a structure that once served the Royal Navy with rum.

Originally built with an additional storey, the Rum Store was damaged during World War 2 bombing raids, leading to the removal of its top floor.

View from above - the Rum Store was damaged by World War II bombs and it’s upper storey had to be removed,

The new project, powered by the Government’s Levelling Up Fund and match-funding by UK Docks, will carefully restore the building, honouring its rich past while rebuilding the upper floor.

Once complete, the rooftop will feature a stunning bar where visitors can take in panoramic views over Portsmouth Harbour—a unique vantage point that celebrates the area’s maritime legacy.

By creating between 150 and 200 jobs, the project is expected to inject an estimated £11 million into the local economy each year, making it a major driver of growth and opportunity for the community.

• The public consultation event at UK Docks runs from 4 pm- 7 pm next Tuesday, November 12, and there will be opportunities for further feedback over the following days.

Harry’s medal recognises importance of marine services to UK

UK DOCKS’ founder Harry Wilson says he views the MBE medal he received in the King’s Birthday Honours List as a sign that the importance of marine services to the UK does not go unnoticed.

Last week, the 82-year-old travelled to Windsor Castle, where his wife, Audrey, and sons Chris, Gary and Jonathan - all now directors of the company - were among those watching as Her Royal Highness, the Princess Anne presented him with his medal and congratulated Harry on his achievements.

The Wilsons at Windsor Castle, from l to r, Chris, Audrey, Harry, Gary and Jonathan.

"It was definitely one of the highlights of my life and I enjoyed the chance to have a talk to Princess Anne,” Harry said.

“But I have to say that I was proud I was there representing marine services and engineering, among all the other people being honoured, and it’s really pleasing that our industry is recognised alongside the achievements of others.”

“Marine services make a huge and important contribution to our country and I think the way the world is going, that contribution is only going to increase in the years ahead,” he said.

Harry’s medal was presented in recognition of Harry’s service to the marine industry over the decades and acknowledged his efforts to revive boat repair and dockyards at a time when the sector seemed to be in terminal decline in this country.

Harry Wilson MBE and wife Audrey at Windsor Castle

He launched the company from a single slipway in 1992 and went on to revive marine services on Tyneside, Teesside and on the south coast at Gosport in Portsmouth and Cremyll in Cornwall.

A decade ago, UK Docks successfully re-opened the former Smith’s Docks on the River Tees and that helped drive the company to new levels - gaining major Royal Navy contracts while servicing a host of other maritime vessels from its two dry docks.

Having established itself as a leading name in the UK’s ship repair industry, UK Docks has moved increasingly into servicing Ministry of Defence contracts for the Royal Navy.

Those efforts culminated last year with the winning of a £250m contract to service and maintain five Batch 2 Offshore Patrol vessels across the globe.

And Harry reckons there is much more to come from the company.

“I’m very excited about the future of UK Docks because, in many ways, we might only just have put the foundations in place,” he said.

“My three lads are not people who believe in standing still, and the company has a long way to go yet. What has been achieved so far might just be the launch pad for greater things ahead.”

Now employing more than  200 people, as well as supporting many supply chain jobs, one of the key driving forces behind the growth of UK Docks was Harry’s desire to regenerate areas of industrial decline and give something back to the community, including creating jobs.

He said: "The object of the exercise, after founding UK Docks and being able to make a living out of it, was to genuinely put something back into the ship repair industry.

"I'd had a pretty decent life from it, not necessarily an easy one, but a decent one and I believed in the industry and its potential and wanted to see it do well.

"I'm pleased to see that UK Docks has been able to grow over the years.

"I've been lucky to have three sons who have all been interested in the business and have been able to take the company from strength to strength over the years and ensured that it has grown from local to regional to national and now a global concern.”

Harry’s son, Jonathan, UK Docks’ managing director, said: "We're obviously immensely proud of him - he's a one-off.

"It was Harry who had this vision of developing ship repair and re-opening yards at a time when so many others were closing and he's been proven right in his decision-making time after time.

"He's got a great reputation in our industry and he's responsible for what this company has grown into today.

"It's also, I think, a recognition of his charity work over the years because he has strongly backed a number of important causes and, in particular, has been a long-time supporter of South Shields Sea Cadets."