Galveston Seaport Museum: Woman dies from Elissa’s mast

Galveston Historical Foundation, which manages the museum and ship, confirmed the death.

GALVESTON (Texas) — Police said that a woman died after falling from a mast of a historic ship featured at a Texas museum. Her safety harness had somehow come loose, and she fell to her death.

The Galveston County News reported that the 58-year old woman died after falling from a mast aboard the tall ship Elissa.

“We don’t know what happened, she wasn’t double-clipped into,” Port of Galveston ChiefKenneth Brown stated. She apparently fell and fell while she was trying to move from one place to the next.

Galveston Historical Foundation, which manages the ship and museum, confirmed the death, but declined to give further details.
Each year, Elissa hosts training classes that include lessons in sailrigging. This involves climbing up the masts of the ship. According to the foundation’s website, a training class was scheduled for Saturday.
According to the foundation, the historical foundation bought the Elissa in 1978 from a Greek scrapyard. The ship was restored and is now a floating museum that attracts more than 40,000 people each year.