17/07/2025

PENZANCE Dry Dock is this month celebrating four years since it was saved from closure.

Penzance has been home to a dry dock since 1810, with the marine industry part of the fabric of the area long before that. Requiring significant investment to bring it up to standard, the dry dock was nearly lost in 2021 before being rescued by Linked Solutions SW Ltd, led by former Royal Navy marine engineer Jamie Murphy.

Since taking on the facilities, the team behind Penzance Dry Dock have successfully raised £5.3m in investment to regenerate the site. This includes £2m from Cornwall Council via the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Good Growth Programme, funded by the government’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund, enabling the overhaul of the dry dock gates, a new pumping system, two assembly bays and new cranes as part of a site-wide refurbishment and upgrade.

Cllr Tim Dwelly, Cornwall Council’s Cabinet Member for Economic Regeneration and Investment and Cornwall councillor for Penzance East, said: “I have supported Penzance Dry Dock for years. The owners are quite rightly proud of its heritage and what it can do for the future of the marine sector in West Cornwall. There are real opportunities for Cornwall in supporting the UK’s defence sector and Floating Offshore Wind. Our Good Growth investment in Penzance Dry Dock is a sign that we think it can deliver jobs and opportunities not just for Penzance but Cornwall as a whole.”

The investment into the facilities have transformed the capabilities of Penzance Dry Dock which will soon be able to offer shipbuilding services, as well as repair and refurbishment. To be able to build ships side by side with repair will make Penzance Dry Dock a unique facility in the UK small to medium sized ship building market.

 Mr Murphy said: “We’re really proud of the transformation that has taken place in the last four years. We’ve not only secured the dry dock facilities, but we’ll also soon be in a position to start providing shipbuilding services.

“We’re extremely grateful to all those that believed in our vision for the site and have supported us in our journey so far. Penzance has over 200 years of heritage in the marine engineering sector and we’re proud to be propelling it into the next chapter.”

The UK is at present said to be around 300 vessels short of meeting the basic crew transfer requirements for the Floating Offshore Wind sector, including in the Celtic Sea where there are plans for some of the largest floating offshore windfarms in the world. Penzance Dry Dock says it is well-placed both geographically and operationally to build multiple hulls simultaneously which could help address this shortfall of vessels. The TOR Group has just brought their £11m multipurpose ship to Penzance to showcase what Penzance Dry Dock will soon be able to build for the Floating Offshore Wind sector.

Meanwhile The Crown Estate recently announced plans to invest up £400m in the UK offshore wind energy supply chain to accelerate the delivery of UK offshore wind projects.