Chieftain: Abandoned Yorkshire fishing boat that was once a Royal Navy training vessel 'to be removed' from Whitby Harbour after complaints

The Chieftain has operated out of the port for over 20 years, offering fishing trips to German and Norwegian waters. Built in the 1960s, it was previously used by the Royal Navy as a training vessel.

Speculation over its ownership and future began after it appeared to have abandoned in the harbour, and a notice of destraint has been issued by North Yorkshire Council in respect of unpaid moorage fees.

In the 1990s, it was bought by John Brennan, who ran a successful charter business for hobby anglers before his death in 2009.

The vessel changed hands in 2018, when local mariner Will Bamber announced: “Chieftain Charters is now under new ownership and management. We have just finished our 2018 season and soon the vessel will undergo a complete overhaul and facelift. At Chieftain Charters we aim to give our customers a special unique experience that is only offered by us on the east coast, possibly the entire UK, fishing wrecks up to 150 nautical miles offshore on a range of trips from 10 hours to 120 hours. The fishing itself is almost exclusively wreck fishing with cod and ling being the main species caught. Chieftain’s current records for these stand at 44lb for ling and 35lb for cod. Big fish by any angler’s standards! While fish of that size don’t get caught every day, you can expect to see a fair amount of double figure fish on a Chieftain Charter with plenty of 10 lb’ers and a good amount of fish in the 15-20lb bracket.”

However, the boat was offered for sale again in 2020.

A petition has even been launched to call for the Chieftain’s removal from the harbour by the port authority, North Yorkshire Council.

Jim Evans, who began the campaign, claims the vessel is unsafe, unseaworthy and presents a pollution risk.

Mr Evans said the boat’s deteriorating condition had been ‘ignored’ by harbour masters and that its batteries will have died, leaving the bilge pumps unoperational. He believes it will ‘rapidly sink’ if it develops a leak.

Harbour users suggested that the Chieftain could end up being towed out to sea and scuttled, with the wreck becoming an artificial reef to encourage wildlife, but North Yorkshire Council did not address this rumour.

Instead, corporate director of environment Karl Battersby said: “The Chieftain has been an eyesore in Whitby Harbour for some time and despite

discussions with the owner, the boat has not been removed.

“We have taken the step of obtaining possession of the Chieftain with a view to removing it from the harbour due to its condition and to prevent any potential damage to the environment.”

Before being sold into private ownership, Chieftain was named Alnmouth, and she was part of the Royal Maritime Auxiliary Service – a government agency which provided vessels to the naval fleet to support operations. RMAS included tugs, landing craft, research vessels, salvage boats, ammunition transports and torpedo retrievers, but Alnmouth was an Aberdovey-class fleet tender.

The vessel was manned by an RMAS crew but used for the training of the Sea Cadet Corps.