After 30 years ferrying people back and forth between North and South Shields, The Shieldsman is up for sale.

The boat made its final journey across the Tyne on September 30, when it took the last of the Great North Run finishers across the river.

Now Nexus is inviting closed bids for the ferry to save it from sailing into the breakers' yard.

The boat is being advertised in trade journals around the world, and Nexus has revealed that it has already spoken to potential buyers, including one from overseas. Transport chiefs are keen to get the vessel's future sorted out quickly, because the passenger licence on the boat has expired.

However, negotiations are still in the early days, and The Shieldsman's future is expected to be sorted in the next few months.



If a buyer can't be found for the double-ended ferry, Nexus will have no option but to sell the boat for scrap, and she will be sent to the breakers' yard.

Nexus won't reveal how much they're expecting the boat to fetch at auction, but hope it'll fetch a six-figure sum.

The Shieldsman, which has a capacity of 350 people, was built by Hancock Shipbuilders of Pembroke Dock and entered service in 1976.

A Nexus spokesman said: "The Shieldsman is still a river-worthy passenger vessel and we are hopeful that she could be used for similar purposes anywhere in the world or in some other capacity.

"The Shieldsman has a proud 30-year record of service on the Tyne and we would much rather see her sold off as an active vessel, which would obviously give us a much greater return than if she was just sent for scrap."

It has now been replaced by The Spirit of the Tyne, which was launched by Princess Anne and named by Gazette reader Barbara Brown, from Winskell Road, South Shields.