The man who owns the TSS Duke of Lancaster ship has critised urban explorers who broke into the vessel by "scaling the anchor chain" earlier this week.
John Rowley, who owns the dry docked vessel in Mostyn, says it was "raided" on Sunday night and Monday night. The ship has not been used since the 1980s and has become something of a local curio in subsequent decades for people who have caught a glimpse of it while driving past on the coast road in Flintshire. In 2014, it was painted black in a move that proved contentious with residents after a Latvian graffiti artist had been commissioned to spray paint the ship only two years prior. In 2016, a group of people gained access and were amazed at what they found.
But in the last week it has attracted some unwanted attention by urban explorers who broke into the ship in order to get a closer look and to explore the hull. North Wales Live reported that according to Mr Rowley, the urban explorers "climbed over razor wired security fencing, scaled an anchor chain to get on an upper deck of the ship and then broke inside from there after helping others get onboard."
