If an organization or cause is
a sinking ship, it is failing and unlikely to recover.
Insiders regard the company as a sinking ship. Note: You can also say that someone
abandons,
deserts or
leaves a sinking ship, to mean that they leave an organization or activity which is about to fail.
I know some people will say that I am leaving a sinking ship. He seems to be suggesting that we're deserting a sinking ship, but that's not the case. Compare with
like rats deserting a sinking ship.