CUTTY SARK - crime scene
As people around the world express horror the police say burned ship is now a 'crime scene'

According to Richard Doughty, chief executive of The Cutty Sark Trust, the police have declared the ship a 'crime scene'.

The companionway at the stern of the ship is what forensic teams will focus on, as they try to determine the cause of the blaze. They will be looking for evidence of accelerants.

Police say that CCTV pictures show a silver car leaving the scene before the fire and are anxious to make contact with the owner as well some individuals on the tape.

Mr Doughty told The Times newspaper that the ship had developed a list and that it would be a month before the Trust and engineers knew the full scale of the damage.

Mr Doughty welcomed all donations he said, be they big or small. An anonymous donor has sent in £100,000.

Meanwhile other donations are coming in from around the world.

An Australian shipping enthusiast's group for example has agreed to raise money to the ship. The members of Peninsula Ship Society, Victoria decided the CUTTY SARK merited their support and will be running raffles and other activities to gather in funds to send to London. The Scottish-built clipper earned her real fame on the Australian wool run.

The fire, which police immediately labelled as suspicious, has sent shock waves around the world with people expressing their horror at the devastation caused to the most famous sailing ship in the world. Internet forums contain messages of disbelief, shock and even anger as people digest the police view that the fire was started maliciously.

The His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh, who was instrumental in setting up the original Cutty Sark Society in the early fifties, visited the ship and called the devastation 'a bloody shame' and compared it to the blaze that destroyed much of Windsor Castle in 1992.

The publicity around the CUTTY SARK has also awakened interest in other historic vessels that are threatened, such as the Sunderland-built CARRICK (ex CITY OF ADELAIDE). Like CUTTY SARK she is of composite construction (iron frame clad with timbers) and it is believed these two vessels are the last of their kind still in existence. Suggestions have been made that the timbers of CARRICK, currently rotting on a slip in Irvine, Scotland, could be used to replace any lost on the CUTTY SARK, but such a suggestion is likely to be faced with fierce opposition from people who wish to see the CARRICK restored.

CARRICK is the oldest surviving clipper, having been built five years prior to the more famous vessel.

CUTTY SARK suffers from suspicious fire
21-05-2007
Help rebuild the CUTTY SARK - Appeal
About the CUTTY SARK