Restoration of Scottish sailing boat offered as ‘lifeline’ to now-closed Appledore Shipyard

The restoration of a Scottish sailing boat is being offered to bring work back to Appledore Shipyard.

Falls of Clyde International Limited is offering a ‘limited lifeline’ to the yard, which closed last Friday, as it looks to restore Falls of Clyde, a 140-year-old, 300-ft long iron-built sailing ship.

It is exploring the possibility of securing the yard to repatriate the Scotland-built ship from where it is moored in Hawaii and restore her to seagoing condition again with support from the Government. It is currently fundraising to have the ship brought back to the UK.

The company’s director, David O’Neill, claims the project, which seeks to offer Falls of Clyde a future as a carbon-free vessel carrying Fair Trade cargo and a collector and recycler of ocean plastic waste, could boost the local economy by £10million. But requires support from the Government.

Falls of Clyde is currently harboured in Honolulu, Hawaii

“This proposal would allow the yard and some of the skills to be kept in place, and even allow for other commercial work to be undertaken,” said Mr O’Neill.

“Our project seeks to repatriate the ship from Hawaii and restore her to seagoing condition once again, with a future of operations that could inject some £10m per annum into the local economy, post rebuild.

“It is also anticipated that the project could attract many thousands of tourists to see her restoration, again injecting much-needed investment into the local area.

“Once completed she will show the world what British shipbuilding is still capable of.”

Appledore Shipyard

Story by Mattew Smart, North Devon Gazette