THE Royal Navy will be sending the Type 23 frigate HMS Kent for the duration of a marine exhibition on Portland.

The ship will be berthed in Portland Port on July 3 and 4 and will only be open to MarineEx visitors.

Due to current circumstances, a courtesy coach will be available to transport visitors to the port where they will be escorted to the ship.

Organisers thanked Ian Ferguson of Weyline Taxis for providing the coach and running a shuttle service to and from the show site.

The coach will seat 16, which is the ideal number for the Navy to take around the ship in a single group.

The service will commence at 10am and the last coach to Portland will leave at 3pm.

This will allow around one-and-a-half hours for a tour of the ship.

At 5pm a special ‘spectacular event’ is being planned and more information on this will be announced shortly.

Organiser John Moyce, of Osprey Marketing, which is behind MarineEx 2010, said: “The Royal Navy and Portland Port are thanked for making this happen.

“It is rare that one has the chance of seeing a modern warship at close quarters.”

This is the fourth year of the MarineEx show which promises to be bigger and better, having relocated the venue to Osprey Quay.

The event is part of the first weekend of Weymouth and Portland’s maritime festival Spirit of the Sea.

More than 50 exhibitors are booked in to date and there are still some sponsorship opportunities available.

The show will open at 10am on Saturday, July 3, with an official closing time of 6pm.

On Sunday, July 4, the show will again open at 10am and close at 5pm.

To find out more, visit www.wpmd.co.uk or call John Moyce on 01305 823586.