The Falls of Clyde has been saved — again.

Instead of sinking the ship off Honolulu, as had been threatened last month, Bishop Museum announced yesterday it would give the 130-year-old ship to a community group that wants to restore it as an educational stop and tourist destination.

Bruce McEwan, president of the Friends of the Falls of Clyde, said his fledgling organization will try to raise about $2 million for initial repairs to the ship. Some of that money will also go to completing a study on all the work needed to restore the vessel so it can be reopened to the public. An earlier assessment put the price tag at up to $32 million.

"It's definitely a long-term commitment to get it restored," McEwan said yesterday. "But we believe it's the pono thing to do."

The Falls, designated as a National Historic Landmark, was constructed in 1878 in Scotland, and was named after a waterfall on the River Clyde. In 1899, it was brought to Honolulu, where it served as a trans-Pacific passenger- and freight-carrying vessel.

The Falls of Clyde was saved once before, in the early 1960s.

Back then, the ship was set to be scuttled after it was no longer needed as an oil tanker.

But a campaign in the Islands to keep it afloat gained momentum and public support. Following a big fundraising effort, the ship was opened to the public at Honolulu Harbor in 1968 — when Bishop Museum acquired it — then remasted in 1970.

Longtime Honolulu Advertiser columnist Bob Krauss was instrumental in the push to save the Falls of Clyde, campaigning in person and through numerous columns to preserve the ship, as well as donating thousands of dollars to the effort. Krauss died in 2006.

McEwan said he has seen a similar groundswell of support for the vessel this time around. Dozens of people have joined his organization, which just recently filed for not-for-profit status. And many have already pledged their donations, he said.

But he stressed that it will take a lot more work to make sure the Falls is restored.

"We're looking at sort of a community project," he said.

In addition to funds, the group is looking for volunteers and in-kind support.

The Falls of Clyde will remain at Honolulu Harbor for at least 90 more days, before being towed to dry dock in Kalaeloa, McEwan said. It's unclear how much that move will cost, but McEwan said the ship is strong enough to be towed because of repairs Bishop Museum made to it to prepare it for scuttling some 15 miles off Honolulu.

The official transfer of the vessel to the organization — set for this afternoon at Honolulu Harbor — ends the Friends' months-long campaign to save the Falls of Clyde.

Early this year, the Bishop Museum warned that needed repairs to the vessel were mounting. And during the summer, the museum said it could no longer afford to maintain the vessel and was looking to sink it, unless interested parties came forward with a plan.

The museum pointed out that it spent several hundred thousand dollars annually on insurance, labor costs and supplies associated with maintaining the ship, which has been closed since last year for safety reasons. In addition to the Friends, the museum had been working with others who had put forward proposals to take ownership of the ship.

But those other plans fell through.

"Over the last few weeks, the Friends of the Falls of Clyde has demonstrated that they have the passion and the ability to care for the Falls of Clyde and we couldn't be happier," Tim Johns, Bishop Museum president and chief executive officer, said in a news release.

Johns was not available for further comment yesterday.

McEwan said it could take years to restore the Falls of Clyde, but he said his group plans to stick with it. "It has served a tourist attraction here. It's been a good education spot for field trips for kids," he said. "We want to bring all that back."