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Efforts underway to recover sunken schooners
The New York City-based company Crew, which owns the 'Pilot' and the 'Victory Chimes', was working with insurers, marine salvage experts and marine surveyors to determine what to do about the sunken vessels, the salvage of which being a highly complex operation that requires specialised equipment, careful planning and extensive coordination. The vessels remained submerged as part of the ongoing process, while assessments and planning continued. Many in the maritime community were calling on the company to do what it can to save the ships and to account for why they sank. The 'Victory Chimes' is on the National Register of Historic Places and is the last surviving Chesapeake ram, a kind of flat-bottomed schooner designed to navigate narrow and shallow waterways. Crew acquired it at auction about three years ago. The 'Pilot' once ferried maritime pilots to larger ships in Boston Harbor. It also made trips for the Coast Guard during the World War II era. It became an educational and research vessel in the 1970s and 1980s, and Jacques Cousteau spent time aboard it during that period. Crew acquired the vessel in 2015 and turned it into an oyster bar. Even if the ships could be raised, rebuilding them would be extremely difficult and expensive, in part because the kind of timber they were built with is no longer readily available. The schooners were docked at Brooklyn Bridge Park before being relocated to Henry Street Basin, just off the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn’s Red Hook neighbourhood. Report with photo: https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/east/2026/09/04/883820.htm
Sunken historic vessels could be scrapped
The 'Victory Chimes' and 'Pilot', which have been sitting at the bottom of the Gowanus Canal inlet in Brooklyn. since mysteriously sinking in July, could now be headed to the breakers. The restaurateurs who own the ships may not be willing to pay to remove the wrecks from the murky Brooklyn waters and repair them, which could cost a minimum of $500,000. Alex and Miles Pincus — brothers and the owners of the company Crew that turns ships into trendy floating restaurant bars — moved the vessels into the Gowanus Canal inlet months earlier for repairs, where they sank within days of one another in the Red Hook’s Henry Street Basin over the July 4 weekend. The Marine Diving Service responded to the scene and secured the schooners when they sank. The insurers, marine salvage experts, and multiple marine surveyors have worked to determine the best path forward for the wooden vessels. Insurance will not pay for the damaged ships unless the brothers have a concrete plan for them after they have been refloated. The 'Victory Chimes' was in worse condition than the 'Pilot', and it may not be worth it to repair. Report with photos: https://nypost.com/2026/08/16/us-news/historic-vessels-that-sank-in-gowanus-basin-to-be-scrapped-sources/
Sunken ships to be raised
The owners of the ' Victory Chimes', which sank on July 4, werw planning to refloat the ship in hopes of salvaging and restoring her. In 2023 it was sold to two brothers who have a history of converting ships into floating restaurants and moved it to New York. The ship was sold at auction for $75,900 to Miles and Alex Pincus, through the company Crew, which owns multiple floating restaurants in the New York area. The company released a statement on July 7, saying they’re working with maritime salvage experts to raise both the 'Victory Chimes' and the ' Pilot', that sank while berthed in an industrial area of New York Harbour. Marisa Chiarello, vice president of a public relations firm working for Crew said the company called in maritime salvage experts to make a plan to safely raise the vessels, determine the cause of the sinking, and assess any damage to the hulls. Reports with photos: https://www.centralmaine.com/2026/07/08/will-historic-sunken-maine-schooner-rise-again-from-new-york-harbor/ https://www.shipspotting.com/photos/3992383?navList=gallery&category=39&page=1&viewType=normal&sortBy=newest
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