THE paddle steamer Waverley is set to return to the North Wales coast this summer.

The ship, is the last sea going paddle steamer in the world and was taken out of service in 2019 as her two boilers had failed an inspection and had to be replaced.

A fund to raise the £2.3 million required for the work. Earlier this year that target was reached and the ship was taken to a Clydeside repair yard to be dry docked and fitted with new boilers. This involved removing the ship’s two funnels to give access to the boiler room, in what could be described as maritime open heart surgery. Both boilers were then be removed in addition to the electrical generators which were also replaced.

During the dry docking there was some steel renewals in the boiler room before the new boilers are installed.

The annual hull survey work and hull painting was scheduled to be completed during the docking.

Some additional work will also be undertaken on the hull around the dining saloon and galley during this refit.

Once the work has been completed she will return to her normal pattern of sailing on excursions around the British coast.

A spokesman for Waverley Excursions Ltd, who operate the ship, said: “We are intending to offer a variety of trips out of Llandudno, however our timetable is yet to be confirmed.”

In the past PS Waverley has sailed on day excursions along the Welsh coast from Llandudno pier and Liverpool, as well as in the Bristol Channel, the South Coast and in Scottish waters.

The ship was immensely popular with the public in North Wales and each season carried thousands of day trippers along the coast and to the Menai Strait and Anglesey. PS Waverley was built on Clydeside in 1947.