Survey team set to reveal the secrets of the Viola trawler

John Simpson who will be inspecting the Viola with Ros Spink in South Georgia.

WORLD class salvage and marine engineering businesses are about to embark on the next phase of a project to bring a Beverley-built steam trawler back to the Humber.

Solis Marine Consultants flew out on Wednesday 5 October to carry out a survey which will determine whether the Viola can be delivered to Hull as early as next spring to take its place in a maritime heritage programme.

The hope is that their work will clear the way for a project cargo ship to collect the Viola from South Georgia in January or February. Potential snags include harsh weather, the condition of the historic vessel, the availability of funds and the need to fit in with seals and penguins.

The Viola, which is also known as the Dias, was built in Beverley in 1906 and sailed off to war in September 1914 with a crew of local fishermen after being requisitioned by the Admiralty. She was in the maritime front line throughout the Great War and involved in sinking two U-boats, making only a brief visit to Hull whilst still on Admiralty service in 1918. After demobilisation in Milford Haven the vessel worked around the world as a trawler, a whaler, a sealer and an exploration vessel.

In 1982 the Viola was one of the vessels targeted by Argentine scrap metal merchants in the landing which sparked the Falklands War. In 2015 the Viola was featured in a set of stamps which were released in South Georgia, where she still sits on a beach.

Paul Escreet, founder of Hull-based SMS Towage and chairman of the recently-formed Viola Trust, confirmed that a professional fund-raiser has been appointed to bring in an initial £1.5 million to return the Viola to the Humber. While they plan their campaign, work will start on assessing the ship.

Solis Marine, which has worked on salvage and wreck recovery projects around the world from its offices in London, Singapore and Hong Kong, will send Beverley-based John Simpson and his colleague Rosalind Spink to South Georgia.

They flew from RAF Brize Norton to Ascension and, after refuelling, continue to Port Stanley in the Falkland Islands. They will then join the Royal Navy patrol vessel HMS Clyde for the voyage to South Georgia and will spend two days examining the Viola before their trip back to the UK.

Ros said: “The only drawing we have is from 1905 and covers the class of vessel rather than the Viola specifically. She has never undergone a full inspection in the modern era so essentially we will look at her condition and whether she has the strength to survive the journey back.

“She’s sitting in a trench so we need to see if she can be re-floated and then lifted in a cradle. A previous operation in 2004 removed the oil from the ship but there are other environmental considerations.”

Ros has previously worked on re-floating the Indian submarine Sindhurakshak, which exploded and sank in Mumbai harbour in 2013 with the loss of 18 crew. John has just returned to Beverley from Australia, where he was advising on the compensation case around the grounding of the Shen Neng 1 coal carrier on the Great Barrier Reef.

Ros said: “Every job we do is different. That’s the nature of our industry. The Sindhurakshak needed great care because it still had a lot of unexploded ordnance on board. South Georgia has other challenges. It’s a stunning place and I’ve never worked alongside fur seals and penguins!”

Paul Escreet said: “Solis Marine are an organisation of world renown and I am looking forward tremendously to hearing what they find when they carry out their survey.

“Hopefully we will then be able to progress by bringing in more world class partners from the maritime sector to patch up the Viola, lift her onto a project cargo ship and bring her back to the Humber which would take about 20 days”.

Once in Hull the Viola will be met by world class marine engineers who will begin the job of restoring her. But we have to raise the money, and that’s what we’ll be working on while Solis Marine are conducting the survey.”

The Viola - the inspection will determine whether it is possible to save her.