A police investigation is under way after Calypso, the exploration vessel of oceanographer Jacques-Yves Cousteau and the most famous dive-boat in the history of scuba, has been damaged by fire.
The blaze broke in the Turkish shipyard where restoration work has been continuing since last year. Nobody was hurt.
The vessel, originally built in Britain as a minesweeper during WW2 and sunk in a collision in Singapore in 1996, had previously lain derelict in a French dry-dock amid legal wrangling about its fate within the Cousteau family.
Eventually sponsors were found to finance making the vessel seaworthy again, but the fire-damage will delay the work, originally calculated to take up to 18 months.
It is not yet known how the blaze started. The new planking of the hull had been completed shortly before, following months of work, and according to the Cousteau Society it was only the newly fitted timber parts of the ship that were affected, not the original structure.
“This situation reinforces my determination to carry out Captain Cousteau’s wish for Calypso to sail again,” said his widow Francine Cousteau, President of the Cousteau Society.
“I have been fighting for over 20 years to protect the legacy that the Captain has passed on to the Cousteau Society… we have an excellent shipyard with dedicated project managers and exceptionally motivated carpenters, who have all been working with love and skill. For them, and for all of those who share the hope of seeing this ship rebuilt, I want to succeed.”
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22-Sep-17
