Two historic vessels, the Victory Chimes and the PILOT, which sank in Brooklyn's Gowanus Canal in July, are likely to be scrapped due to prohibitive recovery and repair costs. Sources indicate that the owners, brothers Alex and Miles Pincus of the company Crew, which transforms boats into floating restaurant bars, are unwilling to invest the millions of dollars potentially required to salvage and restore the ships.
An insider described the expected plan for the vessels, which have a combined 232 years of history, as "Total demolition. Garbage."
The PILOT, a 1924 vessel that served as the longest-standing pilot ship in U.S. history and was once used by oceanographer Jacques Cousteau, was operating as a floating oyster bar. The Victory Chimes, a 1900 Chesapeake Ram schooner and a U.S. National Historic Landmark featured on Maine's 2003 state quarter, was also slated for a similar hospitality venture.
Both ships mysteriously sank within days of each other over the July 4 weekend in Red Hook's Henry Street Basin. The lack of shore power in the basin, combined with the susceptibility of wooden boats to water ingress, has complicated their preservation. Experts noted that insurance payouts for the damaged ships are contingent on the owners presenting a concrete plan for their salvage and restoration.
"There are three different scenarios," said Zdenek Ulman, owner of Marine Diving Service, who responded to the scene. "It could be refloating the vessels and bringing them to the yard to have them fixed or they could be re-floated and be scheduled for total disposal. Or they can be disassembled right at the seafloor and the seafloor would be cleared out with the demolition in place."
Refloating the vessels alone is estimated to cost a minimum of $500,000, a significant increase from the $75,900 Crew paid for the Victory Chimes in 2023. The Victory Chimes is reportedly in worse condition, leading to increased doubt about the cost-effectiveness of its repair.
Reports suggest the owners were so eager to divest themselves of the Victory Chimes that they approached its previous owner, offering to pay for its return. Charlie Weidman of Charlie's Marine Service, who previously docked alongside the Victory Chimes, stated that the brothers had intended to use the schooner for an oyster bar but lacked a suitable location.
The potential destruction of these historic vessels has drawn criticism, particularly from those in Maine who had reservations about the Victory Chimes being converted into a bar. "Nobody liked that it was going to be turned into a bar, but it was a better fate than having it be chainsawed into pieces," said Quinton Donleavy, a photographer involved in the ship's early online presence. He expressed sadness at the prospect of the ship, once a symbol of Maine, sinking into "back harbor filth."
Crew has not provided a comment, stating only that an investigation into the sinkings is ongoing.