There have been calls to rethink plans to move the world’s oldest surviving clipper, City of Adelaide, to Australia. The Sunderland-built ship is due to be transported from Irvine, North Ayrshire, after an Australian group was named preferred bidder. However, the Sunderland City of Adelaide Recovery Fund (Scarf) has mounted a long-running campaign to bring the clipper back to Sunderland.
The archaeological trust’s Rescue News editor Pam Irving said her fear was the ship would be moved but then left in a situation similar to that in Scotland and would continue to deteriorate.
“I think we need to have one last go to see if we can’t rise to the challenge of preserving the ship in the UK where it belongs,” she said.
