SS Robin

KDC London was invited to manage the SS Robin project, taking the world’s oldest complete steamship from derelict wreck to an impressive success story, raising over £5m investment from public and private funds.

We’re proud to have been instrumental in saving this irreplaceable symbol of Britain’s famous merchant fleet, and to have managed her restoration over twelve years. Built in 1890 at the renowned Thames Ironworks in Bow, London, SS Robin is a rare and precious example of the ‘Dirty British Coaster’ immortalised in John Masefield’s much loved poem ‘Cargoes’.

For over five years, from 2002 – 2007, KDC London worked with the Trustee Board to create and operate a successful nonprofit education project in the heart of London’s Canary Wharf, attracting substantial support and funding from the banking and financial sector.

Over 2008-10 KDC London managed extensive structural restoration work while negotiating and overseeing the design, construction and delivery of a new purpose-built museum pontoon at a shipyard in Poland.

In 2010 we designed a complex engineering operation, successfully lifting the fragile structure high into the air. In a carefully choreographed tandem lift using two of the UK’s largest land cranes, she was carefully positioned onto her new pontoon, where she is now safely displayed for future generations – creating a world first in maritime heritage conservation.

KDC London delivered and implemented on budget and on schedule, creating a financially sustainable solution to her on-going management.

Over 2010/12 we raised the final tranche of funding to complete the conservation works programme, while negotiating leases and planning agreements to ensure her return to London’s Royal Victoria Dock, where she’s now set to take her place as a symbol of East London’s transformation

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