Supporters in Scotland are mounting a last-ditch effort to save the Falls of Clyde from scrapping or scuttling in Hawaii. The Falls of Clyde, launched in 1878 in Port Glasgow, Scotland, is the only remaining iron-hulled four-masted full-rigged ship and the only surviving sail-driven oil tanker in the world.  

In late April, the Hawaii Department of Transportation’s Harbors Division put out a request for proposals for the “removal of the derelict sailing vessel Falls of Clyde from Honolulu Harbor.”  The bids are due at 10 a.m. Friday.

The Scotsman reports that supporters have launched an “emergency call to action” to prevent the 143-year vessel from being scuttled or broken up over fears a hurricane could see her sink in the harbor.  The desperate appeal follows a series of unsuccessful attempts to return the Falls of Clyde to Scotland for restoration.

The Falls of Clyde narrowly avoided scuttling in 2008.  The ship had been towed to Hawaii in  1968 and opened as a museum in 1971 but was poorly maintained.  In 2008, the Bishop Museum, which had control of the ship, was preparing to tow her out to sea and scuttle her. In an attempt to save her, the Friends of Falls of Clyde, a tax-exempt group was formed and purchased the ship in September 2008.

The Friends of Falls of Clyde intended to raise money to restore the ship but was largely unsuccessful.  In 2016, the State of Hawaii ordered that the ship be removed from Honolulu harbor.  Lacking funds and a place to put the ship, the Friends of Falls of Clyde left the ship at the berth, where she had been for close to a half-century.

In February 2019, the ship came perilously close to sinking at the dock in Honolulu. The State of Hawaii foreclosed on the ship and in March put the ship up for auction, but had no takers.   

Now the state wants the ship removed and soon.

Derek Chow, Harbors Division deputy director told the Star Advertiser that the state’s goal is to have the ship removed before hurricane season begins in June, he said.

 “It does pose a danger,” he said. “If a hurricane hit Oahu or Honolulu Harbor, we’re afraid waves and wind will cause the ship to tip over sideways or sink, so we certainly don’t want that to happen.” 
 
The state is also spending money annually on the ship’s maintenance and repairs, he said, including the patching up of holes. In addition, the state is unable to make needed repairs to Pier 7, where the ship remains docked.

For her first twenty years, the Falls of Clyde served as a British merchantman in the India trade and ain tram service. She was then purchased by Matson Navigation and brought to Hawaii.  From 1899 to 1907, she made over sixty voyages between Hilo, Hawaii, and San Francisco, California, carrying general merchandise west, sugar east, and passengers both ways. 

In 1907, the Associated Oil Company (later Tidewater Oil) bought Falls of Clyde and converted her to a bulk oil tanker with a capacity of 19,000 barrels (3,000 m³). Ten large steel tanks were built into her hull, and a pump room, boiler, and generator fitted forward of an oil-tight bulkhead.