IT has been less than a month since she was decommissioned, but axed aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal is already up for sale.
Like her sister ship HMS Invincible, which was taken away to be scrapped in Turkey last week, the warship has appeared for sale on the Ministry of Defence’s ebay-style website edisposals.com.
The MoD says interested parties have until 10am on Monday, June 13 to submit an offer.
Like Invincible, Ark Royal could end up on the scrap heap.
Her 10,000 tonnes of metal, 95 per cent of which is steel, is worth around £2m on the metals market.
However, there are other more exciting plans in the pipeline.
One is for the Ark to become a commercial heliport in London.
The 693ft vessel would be manned by around 150 former servicemen, for whom she would be both a home and a job.
The heliport would cater for City workers, police helicopters and London’s air ambulance.
She could also be used by the special forces to provide security during next year’s Olympic Games.
And then there is Birmingham-based businessman Kin Bong Lam, who after failing with a £5m bid to turn Invincible into a nightclub and school in China, has expressed an interest in attempting a similar offer for Ark Royal.
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