Les Mamelles says goodbye to Isle of Farquhar |05 October 2004

Environment and culture officials, as well as a handful of former passengers and crew members of Isle of Farquhar paid their last respects to the vessel in a small ceremony on Monday afternoon.

The group went on board to take one last glimpse of the dilapidated schooner, which has been moored behind the Plaisance basketball court near the walkway to Roche Caiman for nearly 30 years.

The Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources felt Farquhar needed to be removed because the rusted-over vessel was both an eyesore and unsafe given the number of people and children who travel through or play in the area.

It was also a common site for illegal activities, said Jude Florentine, the director general for environment assessment and pollution control, who doubles as chief of the Solid Waste and Cleaning Agency (SWAC).

The ministry contracted scrap metal company Samlo to carry out the operation of dismantling the ship, which is expected to take a month to complete. Mr Florentine said that Samlo would hopefully be able to salvage some usable scrap from the vessel for export, but that the rest would be headed to the landfill.

National Museum director Alain Lucas said some parts of the vessel would be preserved for display at the museum, and will be part of next year’s launch of a new maritime museum on World Maritime Day in September.

The boat’s removal, however, will mean the loss of a historical landmark for both Les Mamelles and Roche Caiman, said Les Mamelles district administrator Daniel Adeline.

He said Isle of Farquhar had long been regarded as a common meeting and reference point in the area. District officials wanted to find a way to maintain the vessel, he said, but the costs involved were too high.

“It’s a disadvantage for us,” Mr Adeline said, noting that tourists would often frequent the site to take photos of the vessel.

According to a National Archives document, it is believed that the Isle of Farquhar first established its Seychelles link when it was sold by a Mauritian fishing company to Paul Moulinie, described as a “landowner of Praslin,” in 1962.

It was used mainly for transporting copra, Seychelles’ main export at the time, as well as merchandise and passengers around the islands of Farquhar, Diego Garcia, Agalega and Mauritius, according to one of the ship’s ex-sailors.

Mr Moulinie apparently sold the vessel around 1976 to a foreigner who wanted to establish a restaurant using the boat, said Willis Prosper, who was a passenger aboard the ship in 1971 during its final voyage to evacuate residents from Diego Garcia.

The restaurant project never materialised, however. After some initial work to remove the boat’s machinery and concrete laying for the restaurant, the owner left the country and abandoned the ship where it lies today.

The schooner was originally built in the United States in 1909. According to another of its former crew members, the vessel initially had the name of Telma, before it was changed to La Perle and eventually, Isle of Farquhar.