HMS Caroline: Officials query invoices linked to ship

Stormont officials have queried invoices lodged by the company that operates the World War One warship HMS Caroline.

The National Museum of the Royal Navy (NMRN) operates the ship on behalf of the Northern Ireland Executive.

Outgoing Economy Minister Diane Dodds revealed her department had been billed for hospitality and work by a PR firm.

NMRN said it was working to resolve outstanding queries on recovery of some costs.

HMS Caroline is the sole surviving ship from the 1916 Battle of Jutland, the biggest sea battle of World War One.

The tourist attraction has faced a major loss of income during the pandemic.

The Department for the Economy (DfE) and NMRN are in discussions about HMS Caroline's future.

It has emerged that costs for briefing politicians about the future of the ship as a tourist attraction have been invoiced to the DfE.

Mrs Dodds said the NMRN had submitted claims for "some hospitality-related expenditure at local venues and overnight stays".

The outgoing minister said it would "not be appropriate" to share more on those costs as discussions on the long-term future of HMS Caroline were ongoing.

On the issue of the lobbying invoice, Mrs Dodds said the NMRN was attempting to "recharge" her department for work undertaken by a PR firm.

That work involved a newspaper article, briefing an MLA and lobbying local politicians on the issues surrounding the ongoing viability of HMS Caroline as an attraction.

Mrs Dodds said she had queried these costs with the NMRN and was awaiting a response.

Built in 1914 in Birkenhead in England, HMS Caroline was one of the fastest warships of its time.

The Battle of Jutland - off the coast of Denmark - involved some 250 ships from the Royal Navy's Grand Fleet and the German High Seas Fleet.

More than 8,500 sailors lost their lives in the 12-hour battle on 31 May and 1 June 1916.

After the war, HMS Caroline was berthed in Belfast as a training ship, but also saw service in World War Two.

There were fears at one point that the ship would be moved from Belfast after it was decommissioned as a Royal Navy training vessel in 2011.

However, funding worth £15m enabled it to stay in the city and open as a floating museum.

It was shortlisted for the 2019 Art Fund Museum of the Year award.

Last year, there was a reported funding shortfall of £6.35m due to its closure over the Covid-19 pandemic.

A deal which had been in place until June 2020 saw the DfE covering any excess should there be a shortfall in the NMRN's income generation for the attraction.

However, that deal was not renewed due to concerns over operational deficits.

A two-month reprieve was agreed between the parties in October 2020, which covered its costs until December and negated the need for redundancies among the NMRN staff up until that point.

Mrs Dodds also said her department had made two "significant payments" to the NMRN "on the historic deficit to assist with cash flow difficulties" during the pandemic.

NMRN said it had received a letter from the minister regarding outstanding operational costs for HMS Caroline.

A spokesperson for NMRN said: "It has been working with the Department for the Economy in Northern Ireland, for some time to answer queries in relation to the recovery of costs, and continues to liaise with the department over these costs which include PR, marketing and maintenance of the ship.

"It is reviewing the letter and will be replying to her successor in the coming days but does not wish to comment publicly on the detail at this stage."

In a statement, the DfE said discussions were ongoing between the department, the NMRN and the National Lottery Heritage Fund on the long-term future of HMS Caroline and said it would "therefore not be appropriate to provide any further specific details on individual claims at this time".

"However, the department has made several payments to date to NMRN in line with our contractual obligations on the HMSC project."