HDOT AWARDS CONTRACT FOR REMOVAL OF FALLS OF CLYDE FROM HONOLULU HARBOR

News Release 25-0305 from HDoT, July 14, 2025

HONOLULU — The Hawai‘i Department of Transportation (HDOT) has awarded a contract to Shipwright LLC to remove the vessel Falls of Clyde from Honolulu Harbor. The intended means of removal is ocean disposal at a deep-water site at least 12 miles due south of Honolulu Harbor.

Shipwright, a Florida-based maritime technical consulting firm, has assembled a project team with extensive experience with salvage, remediation, wreck assessments, dead ship tows, derelict vessel removal and fragile hulls.

Starting July 21, 2025, Shipwright will begin debris removal and will restore the watertight integrity of the ship’s subdivision bulkheads. This will be followed by hull strength remediation to prepare the vessel to be safely towed out of the harbor in the event of a storm threat or other emergency. From August through November, additional structural reinforcement work will be performed before the vessel is towed and disposed of in late November. Shipwright will also seek the necessary approvals from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Coast Guard. The estimated cost for the removal project is $4.9 million.

In July 2024, HDOT solicited bids for the permanent removal of the vessel from the harbor. The request for proposal called for bidders to recommend and determine the method and means of removal.

HDOT previously evaluated removal by dismantling, ocean disposal, or third-party acquisition in its Final Environmental Assessment issued in June 2024. In addition to the environmental assessment, HDOT has taken measures to address and satisfy other regulatory requirements associated with this action including state and federal laws on historic preservation.

Last year, HDOT worked with a maritime archaeologist to catalog and safely remove historical items from the vessel and is storing the artifacts in a secured facility.

The 146-year-old vessel has been docked at Honolulu Harbor since 2008 and is currently berthed at Pier 7, where it once served as a museum ship as part of the Hawai‘i Maritime Center. The vessel was impounded in 2016 when the permit for the vessel was revoked and the owner failed to remove it from the harbor. It has remained in the custody of the department.

Over the past decade, HDOT has focused on the removal of inoperable vessels from its commercial ports to protect the maritime facilities, improve port efficiency and support commerce, as well as the movement of more than 90% of the imported goods that enter the state through Honolulu Harbor.

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