Lightship LV14 - Helwick - Cardiff Bay, Wales.
N 51° 27.747 W 003° 09.657
30U E 488818 N 5701265
Light Vessel 14 - the former lightship 'Helwick' - Launched in 1953 by the builders from the Philip yard on the River Dart. Commissioned by Trinity House for use at Kentish Knock, in the Thames Estuary.
Waymark Code: WMEPHH
Location: South Wales, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 06/23/2012
Views: 6
From the Penarth Times; May 15 2015.
"The former Helwick Lightship (official name Lightship 14) – a familiar feature of Cardiff Bay and well-known to hundreds of Penarthians over the years – is about to leave Cardiff Docks.
The ship was originally built in Devon for Trinity House in 1953 and performed lightship service at several locations including Kentish Knock in the Thames estuary, Cowes (Isle of Wight), Scarweather (Swansea Bay) and Morecambe Bay before her final assignment off Rhossili, on the Gower peninsula where she warned shipping of the dangerous Helwick sandbank.
The lightship was withdrawn from service in 1989 but in 1993 was bought and restored, with support from Cardiff Bay Development Corporation and renamed “Lightship 2000” to function as a floating meeting-place and café for local churches. At one time – before the development of Cardiff Bay – it was the only place to get anything to eat in the area.
The starboard side of the lightship maintained her original appearance.
The trustees managing the vessel had to close it down a couple of years ago . One said it just didn’t attract enough paying customers . Even though the large ship is brightly painted in red, her berth became almost totally obscured by a high hedge. When a meeting was convened to discuss her future in December 2013 only one person turned up.
The ship was moored in Cardiff Docks free of charge, the light on the top of the ship’s light-tower still works and the engines apparently still run and generate electricity, but regulations meant the ship needed to be dry-docked for hull checks and operational overheads have swamped the income .
Today at around noon the ship will be moved away from the berth she has occupied for over 20 years and on Monday morning at 05:00 will be towed out to sea past Penarth – destination Sharpness , future unknown." (
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The following information was originally posted on this waymark in 2012 using information taken from the national historic ships website. This appears to be an error.
It would appear the Spurn should be shown as LV 12 on their website.;
"LIGHT VESSEL 14 SPURN is a vessel of riveted steel construction built in 1958 by Cook Gemmell and Welton of Beverley. She was commissioned by the Humber Conservancy Board in June 1959 and stationed at the Spurn sandbank in the Humber Estuary. She was decommissioned in December 1985.
In August 1988 she became a tourist attraction in Guernsey, Channel Islands and named BEAUCETTE LIGHTSHIP. Subsequently, in a similar role, she moved to Conwy and Milford Haven - where she was named HAVEN LIGHTSHIP.
In July 1997 she was sold to Irish tourism investors and was laid up in Waterford, Ireland in 2001. Bought by her present owners in 2007, she was towed from Waterford to Sharpness for restoration.
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