SS Explorer on Media
Edinburgh Evening News
SS Explorer: Plans to transform historic ship into floating museum at Leith Docks (5:23min)
Plans to transform a historic Scottish vessel into an interactive floating museum in Edinburgh, have been unveiled at an event in Leith.
The SS Explorer, which has been berthed in Leith docks since 1996, is regarded as a pioneering vessel that made a significant contribution to climate science and biodiversity work. In service between 1956 to 1984, the ship allowed marine biologists to better understand sea temperatures and pollution, British fish breeding and fishing levels, and helped shape knowledge of oceanography and marine life.
The SS Explorer Preservation Society (SSEPS), who saved the ship from demolition in the mid 1990s, are now hoping to restore the research vessel to its former glory - and educate a new generation about Scotland’s marine heritage via a new floating museum and accompanying onshore interpretation centre.
Courtesy Marine Scotland, © Crown Copyright
Trawler Investigates.
A digitised version of Trawler Investigates from the original footage supplied by the Marine Lab in Torry. (18:28min)
Macro Photography HEAVEN In An Abandoned Ship (Tips, tricks, settings and more)
Andrew Lanxon Photography
Excerpt from Coast Starring SS Explorer
BBC Two Coast: In search of fish
Andy Torbet visits the SS Explorer - a vessel that pioneered fish stock monitoring.
Release date: 22 July 2014
SS Explorer and 'Sea Changes'
Liz Hare of Citadel Arts Group talks about fusing nautical history and drama as part of Leith Festival. (4 min)
Of Ships and Science: Developing a conservation management plan for the research vessel SS Explorer
Talk by Ben Saunders (Wessex Archaeology). Part of the Edinburgh, Lothians & Borders Archaeology Conference 16 November 2024. The former Fisheries Research Vessel Explorer is a small ship with a big story to tell. The last Scottish built example of a steam powered trawler and the first purpose-built research vessel for Scottish fisheries, the ship blended cutting edge technology and scientific research with tried and tested ship construction and hull forms. An amazing survivor, the ship has been berthed in Leith Docks since 1994 following two close calls with shipbreaking yards. To step aboard is to be transported back to the mid-20th century at sea, with an incredible level of survival of equipment, machinery and cabin spaces. However, the ship sits at a crossroads with the wear and tear of decades starting to cause damage to structural stability and let in the elements to degrade its significance. As part of sustainable conservation management of the ship the SS Explorer Preservation Trust commissioned Wessex Archaeology to complete a full Conservation Management Plan for the ship, bringing together an assessment of the current condition alongside a collation of the various significant historic, social and scientific elements and connections for the ship to identify issues and put forward policies to mitigate them. The overall plan was presented at a launch event in April 2024 and there is now active planning for drydocking and further works, all intended to give this exceptional vessel a new lease of life as a floating museum to maritime science, Scottish shipbuilding and fisheries. The talk will look at the history of the ship, its connections and significance, its current condition and the results of the CMP.