The Jubilee Trust has announced today that their tall ship Lord Nelson is to be sold.

Following the decision to decommission Lord Nelson in October 2019, JST has explored a wide variety of potential options for the future of the ship. These have included the possibility of her returning to full operation as a tall ship within JST or in partnership with other organisations and also the potential for using the ship as a shore based vessel providing sail training and educational ocean based learning and development.

These options would all require significant seven figure forward funding and ongoing financial support. These have been fully explored but all have proved impossible to fund and deliver in the existing climate.

Since the decommissioning and through the long period of the pandemic, Lord Nelson has been berthed in Bristol Harbour.

She was the first tall ship built so that disabled and non-disabled people could sail side by side. Following her launch in 1986, she made more than 1,600 accessible voyages, taking 20,000 people to sea.

The sale of Lord Nelson is being handled by brokers in the UK and internationally.

JST CEO Patrick Fleming said: “Over the past 18 months we have explored a range of possibilities that would retain Lord Nelson within JST but the funding climate prior to and through the pandemic remains tough. We hold Lord Nelson and the wide family of JST supporters who have supported her through the years with great affection.

“Lord Nelson remains a valuable asset and the trust has a duty to ensure that it acts in the best interests of the charity to maximise the value of the ship as a contributor to the long term sustainability of the charity.

“JST continues to deliver its unique mission through SV Tenacious. We are currently coming to the end of four months of hosting sea and leadership training for the Royal Navy and return to a much awaited voyage programme in the UK in June.”