The Sea Heritage Foundation Pty Ltd is a not-for-profit incorporated charity registered with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC).

MV Cape Don was built at the State Dockyards in Newcastle, NSW. Completed in January 1963. She was one of a unique “Cape” class of ships that were purpose-built to service the important shipping and trade lanes around Australia’s vast coastline.

The Conservation work onboard the ship is carried out by a crew of volunteer members of the MV Cape Don Society, which is managed by the Sea Heritage Foundation Board of Governors.

The Foundation was founded in 2004 by Dereck Emmerson Elliott, initially to become a Mersey Ship helping people around the world. This, unfortunately, didn’t come to fruition, and the ship remained a static museum.

However, the refurbishment and conservation of the historic Commonwealth Lighthouse Service (CLS) ship MV Cape Don has continued since 2004. The Sea Heritage Foundation aims to preserve this unique example of Australian shipbuilding, ship design, and maritime history for generations to come.

Upon entering the ship, it’s like entering a time capsule from the 1960s and 1970s. The ship's original interior is still very much in place, with over 90% of the ship accessible and 80% of her internal machinery still operational.

We are actively in planning with the Garden Island Dry Dock in Sydney for the ship to enter the dry dock for a major refit for external repairs. This is a complex and highly detailed body of work. Dry-docking a ship is no easy task, and given the ship's age, we are taking all steps to ensure that expert professionals are engaged at each step of our 3-phase pre-docking plan.

We are currently over 50% complete in phase 2, with phase 4 being the actual dry docking of the ship.

The ship is undergoing a staged 10-year strategic plan to diversify its income, dry dock the ship, and create training and employment pathways for Indigenous Australians.