Tall Ship With a Long Career in Cinema Heads to the Scrappers

A Dutch barque that featured in more than a dozen films has gone to the scrappers, ending a 77-year career on the water. 

The three-masted tall ship Earl of Pembroke, which starred in the film productions of Treasure Island, Alice in Wonderland and Cloud Atlas, has been towed off for demolition. The vessel was built in Sweden in 1945 as the Orion, and she was one of the last schooner-rigged sailing cargo ships constructed for use in the Baltic timber trade.

Earl of Pembroke ended her career as a merchant vessel in 1974, but she was soon picked up by tall ship movie production company Square Sail. She began a refit in 1984 and emerged from shipyard as a three-masted 18th century barque in 1995. Her new name, the Earl of Pembroke, was the original name of Captain James Cook's famous barque Endeavor. 

In her new career for Square Sail, she was involved in more than a dozen TV and movie productions, including Longitude, Treasure Island, the Count of Monte Cristo, Cloud Atlas and Brotherhood of the Wolf, among others.

The Pembroke changed hands in 2012, and she continued to participate in the festival circuit in Northern Europe and the UK. She was resold again in 2017 to Scarlet Sails Ltd. 

In recent years, Earl of Pembroke has been moored in the port of Den Helder, North Holland. However, the cost of her maintenance became unreasonable for the current owner, and the decision was made to scrap her at a yard in nearby Kampen, according to local outlet Noordhollands Dagsblad.