New, Improved Ship to Replace Sunken ‘Pride’

BALTIMORE — A bigger, more stable Pride of Baltimore will be built to replace the one that sank in an Atlantic storm in May, sponsors said Tuesday.

Work on the new schooner, expected to cost $4.5 million, is to begin next year. It will not be a replica of the original ship, said officials of Pride of Baltimore Inc., a nonprofit civic development group.

The new Pride will feature modern technology and design and will meet or exceed all U.S. Coast Guard regulations, the organization said in a statement.

After the sinking, which cost the lives of the captain and three crew members, the original ship was criticized as having been unstable and vulnerable to severe weather.

The new ship will be called the Pride of Baltimore as “a living tribute” to those who were lost, officials said. It will not bear a “II” after its name.

The sponsoring organization said it will raise money to pay for the new vessel primarily through corporate and private donations.

Thomas J. Gillmer, naval architect of the original Pride, which was built for $476,000 and launched in February, 1977, will also design the new vessel. It will carry passengers on coastal and inland waters, officials said.

The original Pride of Baltimore sailed on good-will voyages to Atlantic and Great Lakes ports, the West Coast and the Caribbean.