Alma still floating

The Alma Doepel continues to float in Victoria Harbour after an attempt to raise the ship in December was unsuccessful.

A team of volunteers are restoring the ship in Docklands and had planned to raise the ship out of the water by using a submersible barge.

Raising the ship is a necessary step in completing the restoration process.

The team planned to float the barge into position underneath the ship before raising it by pumping air into the barge’s twin submersible pontoons.

However, the attempt to raise the ship failed due to the barge being difficult to control when underwater.

John Williamson, from the restoration team, said the barge was not as stable as they had hoped.

He said the team was working on a solution but couldn’t say when the next attempt at raising the ship would be.