Last orders for famous Tuxedo Royale floating nightclub which is set to be scrapped

The Tuxedo Royale on its way to be dismantled in Hartlepool

A piece of the North East’s cultural history has finally sailed into a scrapyard to be dismantled.

The Tuxedo Royale – the floating nightclub on the River Tyne known as ‘The Boat’ – is being scrapped by Able UK at its site on the outskirts of Hartlepool.

It is the final installment in the long-running saga surrounding the derelict former ferry, which has been moored at Able Middlesbrough Port for the past 10 years.

The vessel, formerly the British Rail Cross-Channel Ferry TSS Dover, was moved to the berth at Able Middlesbrough Port in early 2009 for what was supposed to be two weeks, but in August 2010 the ship’s owners went into administration with no-one prepared to take responsibility for its future.

The vessel continued to deteriorate and was subject to vandalism and a serious fire in June 2018.

Last summer Able made the decision that the vessel would be dismantled.

Neil Etherington, Able’s business development director, said: “Working with agencies including Middlesbrough Council, the Environment Agency and the Port Authority, we had been seeking a solution to the fate of the Tuxedo Royale for a long time.