The Hawaii Department of Transportation (HDOT) and contractor Shipwright have completed the ocean disposal of the sailing vessel Falls of Clyde.
The operation began in the early morning (local time) of Wednesday, October 15, with the vessel being towed from its berth at Honolulu Harbor's Pier Seven. The transit to the disposal site is approximately 25 miles (40 kilometres) south of Honolulu Harbor.
Around noon, Shipwright notified HDOT officials that the operation was completed as planned.
HDOT said the operation also benefited from specialised coral salvage support provided by the Department of Land and Natural Resources Anuenue Coral Nursery and Fisheries Research Center.
HDOT continues to work with local nonprofit the Friends of Falls of Clyde to memorialise the vessel in a permanent display that will feature key artifacts including the vessel’s name board, wheel and bell.
Other artefacts removed from the vessel have been transferred to the National Park Service and will be displayed at the San Francisco Maritime National Historic Park.
Some of the rigging tools from Falls of Clyde will be used for the maintenance of Balclutha, a three-masted square-rigged Scottish-built ship moored at the park.
Originally built in Scotland in 1879, Falls of Clyde is notable for being the last surviving oil tanker to be equipped with sails as her primary means of propulsion.
She sailed for several years as a British and then an American merchant ship and eventually became a floating museum in Hawaii in 1968. However, her condition steadily deteriorated due to bad weather and lack of maintenance.
In 2024, after plans to have Falls of Clyde restored were discontinued, the Hawaii State Government ordered that she be removed and possibly scrapped.
