An historic vessel is to be scrapped after its main source of income, the Friends of National Musuems Liverpool was disbanded by the museum.
The Wincham Preservation Society, which owns the preserved coastal cargo ship, Wincham, says it has had no money to keep the ship since the Friends organisation was closed down in January. The society was faced with a £40,000 repair bill and could not meet the cost of dry-docking facilities. The ship had been on display at Liverpool’s Albert Dock following a £47,500 Lottery grant in 2001.
Bruce Porter, secretary of the Wincham Preservation Society, said: “We have no money and we have had to say goodbye to the vessel. It’s a decision that was not taken lightly and has saddened us all.”
But National Museums Liverpool said that it was unaware of the decision. The NML had been in discussions with the preservation group about finding extra funding to ensure the ships future, until a few weeks ago.
Tony Tibbles, director of Merseyside Maritime Musuem, which is part of NML, said “National Museums Liverpool is disappointed to learn that the Wincham Preservation Society has decided to scrap MV Wincham. National Museums Liverpool was willing to co-operate with others, and explore options for her future preservation. National Museums Liverpool was not consulted or informed about the results of the survey or the repair costs until after this decision was made. Contrary to reports, the scrapping of the Wincham is completely unrelated to any issues around the Friends of National Museums Liverpool.”
Martyn Heighton, chairman of the UK’s Historic Ship Register committee, said,”The scrapping of the historic Mersey estuarial coaster Wincham is an unbelievable state of affairs. Wincham is in the top 300 of the 1,200 ships in the UK National Historic Fleet Register. “