Ahoy there me hearties!

“I’m delighted that our pirate crew have dropped anchor in the great seafaring city of Liverpool. It’ll give people a chance to get up close to our glorious ship and to admire the amazing craftsmanship that’s gone into building her.

“It’s just worth pointing out that this isn’t any old ship either; this is the first authentic ‘cut and shut’ vessel in pirate history. The stern seems to come from quite a fancy galleon of the late 17th Century, and it’s been badly lashed together with the front end of a ship from the 1800s.

“The buxom figurehead obviously came from a bigger and better ship altogether, but she lost her head, poor girl, so the pirates replaced it with the head of a bearded bloke – probably King Neptune. It looks as if the staircase has been taken out of somebody’s house, and at the stern, our pirates have even included a Viking figurehead!

“The team of modelmakers in Bristol really poured love, care and comedy into every inch of this beautiful object. Look at the rusting chains, the worm-eaten timbers, the hand-beaten copper ‘tiles’, the half-finished repairs. Every spoke of the ship’s wheel is different, telling a story of many battles and many small collisions (nobody said our pirates are very good sailors).

“All in all she’s a celebration of design, craftsmanship and fun, and I hope everyone will enjoy her as much as I do.”

“We are very excited to welcome not just any pirate ship to the Museum, but the very one that has starred in a Hollywood movie. Everybody loves pirate stories and we hope families will enjoy getting close to the model and relive the magic of the film.”