A RESTORED tall ship berthed at Liverpool’s Albert Dock is to form the centre piece of a city college’s new maritime academy.

The Glaciere, a Baltic trader ship built in 1899, was raised from the bottom of South Collingwood Dock in October 2003 and is now fully restored and functional.

Under the stewardship of Captain Dave Murray the ship is used to teach sailing and diving.

And now it will become the home of Liverpool Community College’s new Glaciere Maritime Academy.

The academy will offer a wide range of water-themed courses including diving, sailing and power boating.

The courses will be open to students at Liverpool Community College but the hands on training is also designed to benefit businesses too, for example firms in the oil and gas industries.

Qualifications that will be available include day skipper sailing courses, power boat lessons and safety courses as well as Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) diving qualifications.

Captain Murray said: “Our aim has always been to teach as many people as possible to dive and sail in a safe and friendly environment.

“Working in partnership with Liverpool Community College will give us a fantastic opportunity to showcase our superb facilities and forge strong business links across a variety of industries.”

Elaine Bowker, principal of Liverpool Community College, said: “We are delighted to be working with Captain Murray and the Glaciere crew to launch the Glaciere Maritime Academy.

“With its rich maritime history, Liverpool is the perfect place to offer these kind of specialist courses and as an Academy we are in a position to offer a range of accredited courses both for leisure pursuits and for commercial businesses who require staff to have open water, boat handling and diving accreditation.”

The Glaciere is one of the oldest tall ships in the world.

It was originally used to ferry stone between England and Denmark.