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Royal Navy vessel on sale advertised as potential “stylish restaurant or even office-space”

HMS Atherstone
Royal Navy file photo of former HMS Atherstone

The UK defense ministry’s defense equipment sales authority is selling former Hunt-class minehunter HMS Atherstone after it was decommissioned in 2017.

The vessel is being advertised as a potential unique houseboat, a stylish restaurant, a floating bar, or even an office-space. It is currently moored at HM Naval Base Portsmouth and will be offered for sale from there.

According to the UK MoD, the vessel is sound for towing but is no longer in running condition and has been extensively stripped since decommissioning to support the fleet including engine removal.

Interested buyers will be able to inspect the vessel sometime in August or September this year. The sales authority noted the sale could be discontinued at any time should a government to government sale option be forthcoming.

Former HMS Atherstone was commissioned in January 1987 as the tenth ship in the class. The minehunter saw action in home waters and in the Persian Gulf, operating from Bahrain. It was decommissioned in 2017 after a planned refit was cancelled.

The glass-reinforced plastic ships have so far been sold to the Hellenic Navy and the Lithuanian Navy where they remain in service.