Kent News - Duke to inspect damage at Cutty Sark

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Duke to inspect damage at Cutty Sark

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Cutty Sark masts and figurehead at Chatham Dockyatd

The Duke of Edinburgh will visit the Cutty Sark on Tuesday to inspect the damage caused by the recent fire.

The 138-year-old ship suffered a serious fire early on Monday morning.

Police are working on the theory that the fire was caused by arsonists.

Fortunately, the three 100 foot tall masts of the Cutty Sark were safe undergoing restoration work when fire swept through the tea clipper.

They were being stored at the Historic Dockyard, Chatham, Kent as part of a £25 million restoration scheme for the historic tea clipper.

The 16 tonne masts made of metal and wood were delivered to the dockyard last year along with spas and other parts of the vessel, including the deck cabins and furniture and the ship’s massive anchor.

These were among the important parts of the structure of the ship which was not on site in Greenwich when the fire broke out early on Monday morning.

Richard Doughty, chief executive of the Cutty Sark Trust said: “The ship was undergoing a major conservation project and everyone involved is devastated.

“However 50 per cent of the ship had been removed for conservation reasons, including the masts which are in Chatham, the coach house and a significant amount of the planking, so it could have been a lot worse.”

The conservation project was designed to secure the ship for future generations and is backed by the Heritage Lottery Fund.

Maritime experts from the University of Greenwich - which has facilities at the dockyard - are also helping in the restoration of the China run tea clipper.

After three years of planning work started in November 2006 when the first part of the operation - to lift the giant masts off the deck - took place.

Haulage contractors Beck and Pollitzer Engineering Ltd carried out the work.

The masts- stored between the submarine HMS Ocelot and the sloop HMS Gannet became tourist attractions in their own right after their removal to Chatham.

Dockyard museum director Richard Holdsworth said: “It was one of those heart stopping moments when I heard about the fire as i was in may car on the way to work.

“It is very fortunate that so much of the Cutty Sark was under restoration and so much of the structure has been saved.

“The masts we have here are part of the image of the ship - people remember seeing them towering above the London skyline. So if there is a happy side to this sad event, it is that so much has been saved.”

The trust needs to raise more money to finish the conservation project.

POSTED: 22/05/2007 09:42:53

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