From Honolulu to the Clyde, appeal to save historic ship nears final deadline
SHE is one of only five ships of her kind remaining in the world, with a legacy stretching back to 1878.
But the Falls of Clyde could soon be at the bottom of the Pacific ocean if a campaign to save her does not secure the funds it needs by August this year.
The Clyde-built deep water sailing ship is currently berthed at Honolulu Harbour in Hawaii where trust Friends of the Falls of Clyde (FoFC) are battling to raise funds for the vessel’s restoration.
The group bought the ship for $1 in 2008 but have so far been unable to raise the money needed to restore her to her former glory.
They have now received the backing of Clyde Maritime Trust (CMT), the group behind the restoration of sister ship, the Glenlee (the Tall Ship), berthed on the River Clyde at the Riverside Museum.
CMT trustee Frank Brown said: “The Falls of Clyde is a very important ship. She was Clyde built and there’s only five of these ships left in the whole world.
“If she goes, you can’t just build another one. But she needs an awful lot of work and an awful lot of money spent on her.”
It is understood that FoFC have been given until August 15 to remove the ship from Honolulu Harbour amid fears it could sink and result in a costly removal process for the harbour authority.
FoFC are believed to now be left with the choice of either raising the funds and moving the ship to a dry dock or it being sunk out in the Pacific Ocean.
The trust say they need to raise $1.5 million (almost £1m) to complete the first phase of the restoration project and get the ship onto the dry dock to clean, repair, and paint the hull.
It will then cost a further $170,500 (£110,000) to complete the project.
Some shipping enthusiasts in Scotland have criticised the FoFC for not taking action on funding sooner and have called for the Falls of Clyde to be returned to Glasgow and restored in a similar way to the Glenlee.
The campaigners would like to see the vessel taken on by the CMT and saved from an “ignominious end”; however Mr Brown estimates that the costs involved in doing so would run to £10 million – money the CMT does not have.
The trustee said: “There’s a group of campaigners who want to see her brought back to Scotland and restored, but that’s an enormous undertaking that would involve a huge amount of money.
“While I would love to do it on a personal level, we just don’t have the money to do it.
“The best we can do is to try to help the American trust to raise the money so the ship can be saved and be restored there. She really has a better chance of being restored in Honolulu.”
However, he added that would not rule out stepping in if it is decided the ship should be sunk.
Built by Russell and Co in Port Glasgow, the Falls of Clyde began life as a cargo ship transporting goods around the world.
She was later converted to an oil tanker in 1907 before being sold to the General Petroleum Corporation in 1921 who then used her as a floating petrol depot in Alaska. Almost three decades later, she was taken out of commercial service and taken on by the Bishop Museum in Honolulu.
The ship fell into disrepair as the museum struggled to fund her upkeep and FoFC then bought her from the museum eight years ago to save her from being sunk at that stage. FoFC last month set up a crowd-funding campaign with Indiegogo to try to raise money for the restoration, but has so far raised just $1,850 (£1,200). Anyone looking to donate to the FoFC campaign can do so at www.indiegogo.com/ projects/save-our-shipfalls-of-clyde