The Cutty Sark, a landmark of British maritime history, has been heavily damaged by fire, with police treating the incident as suspicious.
The 19th-century clipper, held in dry dock at Greenwich in east London, was found aflame at around 05:00 on Monday, with CCTV footage allegedly showing suspect activity in the minutes before.
Richard Doughty, chief executive of the Cutty Shark Trust, was deeply shaken by the blaze, describing it to the BBC as "an unimaginable shock".
However, Chris Levett of Cutty Sark Enterprises said that the ship was "not dead yet, far from it".
"This is going to make us even more determined to get this ship back up and running and keep her as original as possible.
"This ship has been through many things. She's over 100 years old. She's been through recessions, storms, hurricanes. She's been battling all her life," he said.
The famed vessel has been in dry dock since November for a £25 million renovation project, the progress of which will have been severely hampered by Monday's events.
Greenwich town centre and the nearby Docklands Light Railway station have been temporarily closed as police investigate the incident.
