A boatyard that went up in flames last year is close to being fully operational and its owners expect to welcome customers as early as this week.

William Lawrence, who owns the Boatport Boat Storage facility in St George’s with his brother, Edward Lawrence, invited The Royal Gazette to see progress at the site after six months of intensive work, which included the removal of charred debris and the construction of new storage rack.

An investigation into the fire by the Bermuda Fire and Rescue Service has been completed and a determination will be made as to whether it will be published.

The Boatport Boat Storage facility on Wellington Slip Road was engulfed in flames from about 3.30am on December 14 and firefighters battled the fire for hours.

One of two boat racks was destroyed, affecting 47 customers.

Mr Lawrence said last Thursday: “I will probably have boats in there next week.

“A few of the previous customers have bought another boat so several want to come back and we have about five or six new customers.

“We got all the steel down and sent that to the dump. There was some material that was still usable, it was black from the smoke but still solid. We tried to salvage what we could.

“It probably took a week to take the debris out using D&J Excavating. They came and cleaned up everything for us and took that to the dump.

“We recast all the concrete foundations, set all the bolts and ordered the steel. Then we had to wait.

“It worked out because you want to have about three weeks for the concrete to harden and we were putting up beams as soon as the three weeks was up.

“The timeline worked out perfectly, we are doing it ourselves with the help of D&J Excavating. Island Construction delivered all the material.”

The replaced rack has the capacity to store at least 54 boats and the existing rack on the opposite side of the yard can carry 45.

With an additional rack of five using the salvaged material as well as some individual racks, the business can store more than 100 vessels.

Mr Lawrence added: “We have the same capacity as before apart from the extra rack for five boats.

“The supplier worked fast for us — this is the sixth rack that we’ve bought from them so they are very good with us.”

He said some additional measures were put in place to ensure the safety of the facility.

“We have talked to a company to put in security cameras. The cameras are going to see everything. The modern cameras can distinguish a fire so it will send an alert if it sees smoke or flame.

“We are also attempting to have enough foam on site for the use of the fire department if it ever happens again. I don’t believe it will happen again.

“It took six years to get the boatyard established and eight years to fill it. It should take less time to fill now because people know about us.

“We are back. We will start putting boats in next week and it will be completed by the end of the month.”

A spokesman for the Ministry of National Security, on behalf of the BFRS, said: “The BFRS upholds the highest standards of integrity in its investigations.

“While the investigation is complete, the BFRS must consult with all relevant stakeholders involved in the incident before releasing the findings, as the incident occurred on private property.

“This consultation is a standard part of our process to ensure accuracy, privacy and comprehensiveness.

“The BFRS will make a determination on whether it is appropriate to release the report as soon as this consultation is concluded and thanks the public for their understanding."