A former Mersey ferry moored on the Thames at Woolwich has been gutted by a fire.

The MV Royal Iris hosted early shows by the Beatles in 1961 and 1962 and carried Elizabeth II during her silver jubilee in 1977. 

It was taken out of service in 1991 and sold for conversion to a nightclub – but has been left abandoned and in an increasingly poor condition next to Thames Side Studios, by the Thames Barrier, since 2002.

The London Fire Brigade was called at 4.16pm on Tuesday, when half the boat was alight. Six fire engines and 40 firefighters tackled the blaze, with a fireboat deployed on the scene.

Firefighters have now brought the fire under control but crews are likely to remain on scene for some time to put out the fire fully, the brigade said. Crews from East Greenwich, Forest Hill, Poplar, New Cross and Deptford attended the scene.

“Due to the remote location of the fire, a water relay system was required as part of firefighting operations,” the brigade said. “The appliances were stationed between the incident site and the nearest water hydrant, and then connected together by hose. This allowed crews to pump a constant supply of water to the scene of the fire.”

An investigation is under way into the cause of the fire.

Abandoned ferry
The abandoned target had long been a target for vandals. Image: The Greenwich Wire

The ferry, which could carry more than 2,000 people, had been known in Liverpool and Birkenhead as the “fish and chip boat” because of the cruises that featured live music during the Sixties and Seventies. By 1979 it was fitted with a dome and used in the Saturday morning ITV children’s programme The Mersey Pirate.

In the mid-1980s it was given a refurbishment as part of the Liverpool Garden Festival and even sailed to London to promote the city to investors. The ferry also played a role in the memorial service that followed the Hillsborough stadium disaster in 1989.

Several campaigns were started to bring the Royal Iris back to Liverpool, with nearly 2,000 signing one petition after squatters were reported to be on the ferry in 2010. However, with its ownership unclear and nobody willing to take responsibility for it, the ferry has sat slowly rotting away, partially submerged at high tide.

Listing ferry
The Royal Iris, pictured last year, was already in a poor condition. Image: The Greenwich Wire

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