Guest wrote:The question I have is how many more pre-WWII steamships do we need to save as museums?
We have a ton of them already, and some of them are in jeopardy now for lack of funds. Adding one more isn't going to help the financial situations of any of them. The idea of towing the ship to Alpena (the group wants to drydock it first) and depositing it there doesn't seem to make it feasible - I highly doubt the ship can draw enough people in Alpena to make it work.
Really, these type of groups should be focused on ensuring that the current museum ships are in financially sound condition and not try and add another museum ship that's going to compete for an already-shrinking number of dollars available to save this kind of stuff.
Why do we need them as museums when they could be used for a commercial purpose if it was not for the scrappage clause inserted by the owners which excludes usage for such purposes. If that clause was not there than both the EM Ford and JB Ford would be currently undergoing a refit which would have secured there future for the next decade.