AN MP has stepped in to try and save a rare Clyde-built ship from destruction.

Alison Thewliss, MP for Glasgow Central, has stepped in to help the Falls of Clyde, which is currently docking in Honolulu.

The Clyde-built deep water sailing ship is currently berthed at Honolulu Harbour in Hawaii after trust Friends of the Falls of Clyde bought it for $1 in 2008.

The ship, launched in 1878, has visited every continent across the globe except Antarctica, and was owned by a Hawaii museum until it went bankrupt.

Now the Hawaiian government are threatening to sink the vessel to with Scots campaigners desperately trying to raise cash to save it.

Alison Thewliss has written to the US Governor David Ige asking for him to stop the Hawaiian authorities from destroying the ship until campaigners are able to raise the cash to bring it back home.

She said: “Given its rich history, it would be nothing short of historical and cultural vandalism to sink or destroy Falls of the Clyde.

“The ship is thought to be the last four-masted iron-hulled sailing vessel of its kind anywhere in the world.

“There is growing interest in repatriating the boat to Scotland from organisations like Old Gorbals Heritage Group, the City of Glasgow College’s Riverside campus and many others in Scotland and around the world.

“The River Clyde is full of potential and it would be absolutely amazing to bring the ship home and perhaps run it as a sail training venture.”

David O’Neill, a campaigner from the Save Falls of Clyde International group and the Old Gorbals Heritage Group, welcomed the MP’s involvement.

He explained the group is keen to bring the ship back to the Clyde and restore it, making it a similar attraction to the Tall Ship.

He said: “We want this ship to be used by whole communities across Scotland.

“We are trying to make sure the government (in Hawaii) is aware there is a campaign to save the ship. We want to refurbish it.

“Any assistance that anyone can offer would be brilliant.”