The watery fate of the historic Falls of Clyde has been sealed.
The state has awarded Shipwright LLC, a Florida-based company, a $4.9 million contract to remove the 146-year-old ship from Honolulu Harbor and to scuttle it at sea, marking a final chapter after decades of wrangling over its fate.
The maritime consulting firm last week began prepping the ship for removal from Pier 7 near Aloha Tower Marketplace.
While some maritime enthusiasts continue to advocate for saving the ship, saying once it is gone —it is gone forever — state officials are determined to move forward with removal, which it has pursued for years, saying it presents a safety hazard and is at risk of sinking at Honolulu Harbor.
“We certainly see the pathway forward and the light at the end of the tunnel,” said Dre Kalili, the state Department of Transportation’s deputy director for harbors, “and we’re looking forward to the work getting completed in the next couple of months.”
The work is expected to take until close to year’s end, starting first with the clearing of debris, then restoration of the ship’s watertight integrity and strengthening of the ship’s hull, along with additional reinforcement work.
Then, pending federal approvals, Shipwright is expected to tow the 266-foot-long ship out to sea for disposal in November at a deep-water site at least 12 miles south of Honolulu Harbor.
Bruce McEwan, president of the nonprofit Friends of Falls of Clyde, which had a mission of saving the ship, says that will be a sad day.
“It was inevitable,” said McEwan, after years of fighting to save it. “We’re supportive of the fact that the sinking of a ship is more in line with how a historic ship should end as opposed to being dismantled.”
A 2024 environmental assessment analyzed all the options — including dry dock and repair, dismantling, and disposal at sea.
The assessment said dry dock and repair was not feasible due to the ship’s condition and lack of funding, while dismantling the ship in place would require fewer permits and present the least risk to the marine environment.
Scuttling at sea was another option but will have to be done at an Environmental Protection Agency approved site.
The ship’s disposal is considered a significant loss for maritime history, as the Falls of Clyde – built in 1878 in Port Glasgow, Scotland — is the last remaining example of an iron-hulled, four-masted sailing oil tanker.
It’s tied to Hawaii as a Matson transport ship, and was also a floating museum that in its heyday hosted school field trips, birthday celebrations and weddings.
The Historic Hawaii Foundation considers the Falls of Clyde to be the last of its kind — as both the oldest surviving member of the Matson fleet and the only surviving sailing oil tanker left afloat in the world.
“Historic Hawai‘i Foundation is deeply saddened by the condition of the historic vessel and the decades of poor maintenance that have left it in its current state,” said executive director Kiersten Faulkner in a statement. “Despite the poor physical condition of the ship, its historic significance remains as an object that is associated with the rich maritime history of the Hawaiian islands and the importance of ocean-based commerce and shipping.”
McEwan had hoped the state would continue working with Falls of Clyde International of Scotland to bring the ship back to its birthplace.
DOT, which impounded the ship in 2016, said it tried working with the group, which could not fund its plan. Six years ago, a deal to arrange a lift ship to pick up the Falls fell through.
The Scotland nonprofit did not bid in the latest round, saying the terms and conditions were impossible for a small group as itself to meet.
Ed Sniffen, DOT director, said safety remains a major concern due to the ship’s deterioration.
“If this boat gets dislodged from that area and gets sunk, there’s potential impacts all over our shipping harbor,” said Sniffen. “Even if it didn’t get dislodged, that area is a revenue generator for us that we can’t use.”
The environmental assessment noted the Falls was extremely vulnerable to damage or being unmoored and carried elsewhere in the harbor during a high wind and wave event.
“In order for it just to be seaworthy to move it a minimum 12 miles out of our area,” he said, “it’s going to take a lot of work for our contractor to ensure that it’s first seaworthy and second, it doesn’t sink before the area EPA designates as safe.”
Furthermore, the state has plans to redevelop Honolulu Harbor and says it has an incoming tenant for the Hawaii Maritime Center area to be announced soon.
An unusual delisting
The ship’s demise appeared imminent after it was delisted, first from the Hawaii Register of Historic Places, and then the National Register of Historic Places. It had been listed on both since 1973 and was designated a national historical landmark in 1989.
In a rare move, the state Historic Places Review Board in November 2023 voted to delist the ship, saying it had lost its historic integrity and recommended the National Park Service do the same.
A report by maritime archaeologist James Delgado was pivotal to the delisting.
Delgado, who actually nominated the ship as a historical landmark, recommended the delisting, saying it no longer met criteria for the designation.
His report said there was a “strong risk of the ship sinking” due to corrosion, holes in the hull and failed rivets and patches. It concluded the Falls of Clyde would not likely survive afloat, nor even be intact by 2024.
But the Falls remained afloat through this summer as the state worked through the process of putting out bids and selecting a contractor for its removal.
The awarding of a contract to remove the Falls proved challenging, taking several years.
In 2021, DOT solicited bids and issued the Falls of Clyde International of Scotland a conditional award, but canceled it after saying it failed to meet bond requirements. This was after a public auction in 2019 failed to bring in any legitimate bids.
In July 2024, after the historic delistings, DOT again solicited bids for the permanent removal of the Falls, leaving it up to the contractor to determine the method of the ship’s removal. The contractor would be responsible for obtaining all necessary approvals from the U.S. EPA, Coast Guard and others.
DOT received six bids, and selected one in January, but due to a subsequent challenge, the process was delayed. The contract was first awarded to Donjon Marine Co. of New Jersey, which declined the offer after the challenge had been resolved in April.
So the award went to Shipwright, which DOT said has experience with salvage, dead ship tows and derelict vessel removals.
Years of neglect
The Falls of Clyde, named after a waterfall, was issued the highest rating by Lloyd’s of London insurance firm upon its launch in 1878, according to history books.
The ship proved speedy in transporting traded goods between Britain and India and sailed throughout the Pacific before becoming a Matson ship, carrying sugar from Hilo to San Francisco and back.
It was converted into a sailing oil tanker, then a floating petroleum barge in Alaska before eventually being towed to Seattle, where it was at risk of being scuttled.
Honolulu Advertiser columnist Bob Krauss drummed up support and raised $35,000 to bring the ship to Honolulu in 1963, where she was berthed for many years at Pier 5.
For a period of time, Bishop Museum ran the ship as a floating museum next to the Hawaii Maritime Center as a celebrated part of Hawaii history.
In his book, “Falls of Clyde: 324 Voyages Under Sail,” Krauss said the Falls was not only an “exceptional example of a ship that informs history on many levels,” but that locally, it was “as authentic a symbol of Hawaii history as hula or surfing.”
Unfortunately, the ship suffered years of neglect during this time, and never made it into dry dock for repairs.
In 2008, Bishop Museum, lacking funds, agreed to hand over ownership of the ship to the Friends of Falls of Clyde to restore the ship.
At the time, the museum estimated costs to restore the ship at up to $32 million, plus $1 million a year for upkeep, which was far beyond its annual budget. The museum also planned to sink the ship.
McEwan said both Bishop Museum and the state neglected repairs, and that the Friends had drawn up a detailed dry dock plan in 2014, but the state never got back to the nonprofit group.
He is still holding out hope for the ship, saying it’s possible once the Falls is moved out of the harbor, a third party could arrange with Shipwright to transport it via a heavy lift ship elsewhere.
“Could be Scotland, could be somewhere on the mainland,” he said. “I’m speculating. That seems to be an option that wasn’t considered before.”
DOT said it worked with a maritime archaeologist to catalog historical items from the ship, and is storing artifacts in a secured facility. Efforts are underway to set up a commemorative exhibit, possibly at Aloha Tower, honoring Falls of Clyde’s history.
Pending approvals by the EPA and USCG, the Falls of Clyde’s sinking at deep sea is slated for late November, just shy of its 147th birthday.
Falls of Clyde Timeline
>> Dec. 12, 1878: The Falls of Clyde was built by Russell & Co. in Port Glasgow, Scotland.
>> 1898: The Falls of Clyde joined Matson’s sugar fleet and transported sugar between Hilo and the West Coast.
>> 1907: Falls of Clyde was converted into a sail-powered oil tanker until 1920.
>> 1922: Ship was converted for use as a fuel barge in Ketchikan, Alaska.
>> 1958: Ship was towed to Seattle, where it was almost scuttled.
>> 1963: Due to efforts of Honolulu Advertiser Bob Krauss, the Falls of Clyde was brought to Honolulu to undergo a $3 million restoration.
>> 1973: Listed in the state and national register of historic places.
>> April 11, 1989: Falls of Clyde is designated a national historic landmark by the National Park Service.
>> 2005: Historic Hawaii Foundation lists the Falls of Clyde as endangered.
>> February 2008: Bishop Museum, which operates the Hawaii Maritime Center, closed the Falls of Clyde to visitors due to safety concerns.
>> September 2008: Ownership of ship was transferred to the Honolulu-based nonprofit Friends of Falls of Clyde.
>> 2016: DOT Harbors Division impounds Falls of Clyde after the Friends failed to remove it from the harbor.
>> 2017: Scotland-based Falls of Clyde International expresses interest in transporting the ship back to Glasgow.
>> 2019: DOT holds an auction for Falls of Clyde after plans for a lift ship to transport the ship to Scotland fall through, but receives no qualified bids.
>> 2021: DOT issues a request for proposals to remove the Falls of Clyde.
>> November 2023: Falls of Clyde is delisted from state register of historic places.
>> February 2024: Falls of Clyde delisted from national register of historic places.
>> 2024: DOT in June releases final environmental assessment and findings of no significant impact. In July, DOT solicits another round of proposals for the permanent removal of Falls of Clyde from Honolulu Harbor.
>> December 2024: Falls of Clyde designation as national historic landmark is withdrawn.
>> July 2025: DOT announces a contract to remove Falls of Clyde has been awarded to Shipwright LLC of Florida, which will tow it at least 12 miles south of Honolulu Harbor to dispose of the ship at sea.
Sources: Hawaii Historical Society, NPS, Star-Advertiser archives
Source: The Garden Island