Blaze ravages Cutty Sark

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/itn/2007052...k-dba1618.html

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.

Bus routes are being diverted around the area of the blaze and the
Docklands Light Railway (DLR) is now running as normal.