Post by neil6147 on May 21, 2007 19:28:21 GMT 10
The Cutty Sark, one of the capital's best-loved tourist attractions, has been ravaged by fire as it underwent £25 million of renovations.
Eight fire engines attended the scene in Greenwich, southeast London, while residents were evacuated to a nearby hotel.
Inspector Bruce Middlemiss, from Greenwich borough police, said: 'We are treating this as a suspicious incident. We have no intelligence about suspects.
'We are aware that there were a number of people in the area at the time. We would urge anyone with information to contact police immediately.' He had no description of the people but said there was possibly a silver car in the area at the time.
The 137-year-old clipper was undergoing restoration work as sea salt had accelerated the corrosion of the vessel's iron framework. It was in dry dock and had been due to reopen in 2009.
However, around 50 per cent of the ship was not at the site because it had been taken away for repair.
Chairman of Cutty Sark Enterprises, Chris Livett, believes she can be fully restored. He said: 'It will be the old ship. The ship has been through many things in its lifetime. It has sailed the oceans of the world, it has battled with nature through its life.
'This is going to make us even more determined to get this ship back up and running and keep her as original as possible.'
He continued: 'The mast, much of the planking, the coach housing and all of the artefacts were not there. We're very, very fortunate... It could have been a lot worse.
Describing the blaze as 'a significant blow for us', he said: 'People have worked very hard on this. We're about a quarter of the way into the project.'
Asked if the ship was salvageable, he said: 'I know it's salvageable.'
He said: 'This ship has been through many things. She's over 100 years old. She's been through recessions, storms, hurricanes. She's been battling all her life. She's not dead yet, far from it.'
Built in 1869 by Scott & Linton, Dumbarton, the Cutty Sark is the world's only surviving extreme clipper - one of the fastest commercial sailing ships - and the only tea clipper still in existence.
She was originally used to deliver tea from China in the 1870s and later travelled on many journeys to fetch wool from Australia.
The Cutty Sark was preserved in Greenwich partly as a memorial to the men of the merchant Navy, particularly those who lost their lives in the world wars.
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/6675381.stm
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/glasgow_and_west/6676245.stm
Eight fire engines attended the scene in Greenwich, southeast London, while residents were evacuated to a nearby hotel.
Inspector Bruce Middlemiss, from Greenwich borough police, said: 'We are treating this as a suspicious incident. We have no intelligence about suspects.
'We are aware that there were a number of people in the area at the time. We would urge anyone with information to contact police immediately.' He had no description of the people but said there was possibly a silver car in the area at the time.
The 137-year-old clipper was undergoing restoration work as sea salt had accelerated the corrosion of the vessel's iron framework. It was in dry dock and had been due to reopen in 2009.
However, around 50 per cent of the ship was not at the site because it had been taken away for repair.
Chairman of Cutty Sark Enterprises, Chris Livett, believes she can be fully restored. He said: 'It will be the old ship. The ship has been through many things in its lifetime. It has sailed the oceans of the world, it has battled with nature through its life.
'This is going to make us even more determined to get this ship back up and running and keep her as original as possible.'
He continued: 'The mast, much of the planking, the coach housing and all of the artefacts were not there. We're very, very fortunate... It could have been a lot worse.
Describing the blaze as 'a significant blow for us', he said: 'People have worked very hard on this. We're about a quarter of the way into the project.'
Asked if the ship was salvageable, he said: 'I know it's salvageable.'
He said: 'This ship has been through many things. She's over 100 years old. She's been through recessions, storms, hurricanes. She's been battling all her life. She's not dead yet, far from it.'
Built in 1869 by Scott & Linton, Dumbarton, the Cutty Sark is the world's only surviving extreme clipper - one of the fastest commercial sailing ships - and the only tea clipper still in existence.
She was originally used to deliver tea from China in the 1870s and later travelled on many journeys to fetch wool from Australia.
The Cutty Sark was preserved in Greenwich partly as a memorial to the men of the merchant Navy, particularly those who lost their lives in the world wars.
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/6675381.stm
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/glasgow_and_west/6676245.stm
