It'll take a miracle now to save the Falls of Clyde.

The 130-year-old ship will be sunk unless a new owner is found by Sept. 1, according to Timothy E. Johns, president and CEO of Bishop Museum.

In a letter to Bishop Museum friends and family dated Aug. 14, Johns explained that three parties who expressed interest in adopting the ship are no longer factors. The Falls of Clyde needs extensive restoration work, which could cost $32 million, as well as ongoing maintenance of $1 million per year, Johns said.

In his letter, Johns said:

"Although we continue to meet with various community members to try and come up with additional ideas to save the ship, we must recognize at this point after six months of searching for a new caretaker that if a suitable adoption arrangement for the Falls of Clyde cannot be worked out with any interested parties by Sept. 1, we will have no other option but to sink the ship."

Johns said the Falls of Clyde has been uninsured since February, posing a liability to personnel and property at its Honolulu Harbor berth site. "If the ship was to sink at this time, the cost to bring it out of the water would place the museum in direct jeopardy of its continued operation," Johns said.

In conclusion, Johns wrote, "We are saddened by the prospect of sinking the Falls of Clyde. We wish we could do more, but we neither have the finances nor staff resources to undertake the significant fund-raising campaign that would be necessary to restore the vessel."