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Wales Online
Wales Online
National
Jonathon Hill

Why an eighty-metre-long Royal Navy ship is docked at Cardiff Bay

If you spent any time in Cardiff Bay today you didn’t exactly have to be eagle-eyed to notice an impressively huge ship docked at Britannia Quay. The HMS Severn - affiliated to Newport but which is primarily based in Portsmouth - will be at the quay from today (Monday, May 30) throughout the bank holiday season as a celebration of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.

Photographers gathered at Cardiff Bay on Monday morning to witness the vessel docking as a gathered crowd waved it in. Footage shared on the Severn’s official social media pages showed it being escorted into Roath Basin, navigating a couple of tight squeezes before docking next to the Wild Water Group cold storage facility.

The ship has been advertising tickets to board it and has a tour over the bank holiday weekend. Although tickets have sold out to board the ship, it is well worth paying a visit to see it from the bay. You can get more Cardiff news and other story updates by subscribing to our newsletters here.

READ MORE: No fan zone in Cardiff for huge Wales football match because of Jubilee celebrations and concerts

The ship being escorted into Cardiff Bay on Monday morning (Ben Evans/Huw Evans Agency)
The naval ship, first commissioned in 2003, has served in protection of Britain’s fishing waters and prevention of illicit trafficking, among other things (Ben Evans/Huw Evans Agency)

The naval ship, first commissioned in 2003, has served in the protection of Britain’s fishing waters and prevention of illicit trafficking among other things. Named after the Severn river it measures a huge 79.5 metres in length and spends 2,700 hours at sea a year on average.

While the Severn was decommissioned in 2017, six months later the Ministry of Defence announced that it would be upgraded ready for recommissioning should it be required to enforce Brexit rules at UK waters and fishing zones. The Severn returned to official operations in the summer of 2020. You can read more stories about Cardiff here.

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