WORK has began on scuttling the replica mahogany ship that has greeted visitors to Warrnambool for more than 15 years. Demolition is the last option for the stricken vessel, which once formed the playground of the East Warrnambool McDonald's restaurant. The site's new owners haven't even been able to give the ship away. Guyett's Funerals owners, siblings Brian and Alice Guyett, who bought the prime Raglan Parade property in June, were hoping to find a new home for the $100,000 ferrocrete ship.The ship is a 95 per cent accurate replica of the legendary 16th century Portuguese caravel, the remains of which are believed to still lie in the sand dunes somewhere between Warrnambool and Killarney. But a lack of interest in moving the ship meant it had to be dismantled, Mr Guyett said. ``The problem is because it was built on site, it has no spine,'' he said. ``When you lift it, it's going to just fold in the middle.'' A number of relocation firms estimated moving the ship would have cost between $30,000 and $50,000. ``There was no guarantee that it was going to work,'' Mr Guyett said. ``By lunch time tomorrow, it will be basically a hole in the ground.''