Penzance Dry Dock secures £2m towards major refurbishment

Penzance Dry Dock will undergo a major refurbishment after securing £2m. The oldest operational tidal dry dock in Europe was acquired in 2021 by Jamie Murphy, a former Royal Navy marine engineer, after facing closure.

Mr Murphy, whose grandfather worked at the dock for 45 years, is hoping to transform the facility from a repair business to a shipbuilding company, training up apprentices in the trade.

He secured the cash injection from the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Good Growth Programme towards a £4m upgrade of the business.

The revamp includes an overhaul of the dry dock gates, which is already completed, and a new pumping system that can empty the dock of 4,500 cubic metres of water in an hour instead of six.

There will be seven new cranes, including five gantry cranes inside, plus a 10-tonne jib crane outside and a 50-tonne Goliath crane rising 20m over the dry dock, transforming its capabilities.