A ship last used by the U.S. Air Force to track missiles and spacecraft will soon become the world’s second-largest intentionally sunk artificial reef. Officials hope it will attract fish and divers and relieve recreational pressure on nearby natural reefs. The project has been years in the making. The cost is about $8.6 million, from acquiring the ship to cleaning it. Officials in the Florida Keys expect it to pay dividends, up to $8 million in annual tourism-related revenue, mostly from divers flocking to get a look at the underwater spectacle and related businesses. The idea is to not only to attract tourists, but to help protect the Keys’ natural reefs, already suffering from excessive diving, snorkeling and fishing along with warming ocean temperatures. Explosives attached to the vessel’s hull detonated to flood the 17,000-ton, 523-foot-long ship that was first built as a cargo ship in World War II.

It took $8.6 million (£5.3 million) and more than ten years to prepare the USNS General Hoyt S.Vandenberg for its big day. Yet when the time came, it was all over in less than two minutes. Since its decommissioning in 1986, the 17,250-ton Vandenberg had spent years rusting at its moorings on a river in Virginia as part of the US Maritime Administration’s “ghost fleet”. Its sinking is seen by maritime enthusiasts as a glorious finale to its 66-year story.

Kept in position by four eight-ton anchors, the 523ft ship now rests on the seabed at a depth of 140ft — where it is expected to become a magnet for marine life and for divers, drawing some of the traffic away from natural coral reefs in the area. Within six months, the Vandenberg should be covered with plants and invertebrates that will help to grow the food chain for fish such as grouper, snapper and barracuda. Fish are expected within hours and recreational divers could be allowed as soon as today or tomorrow, once experts confirm that the vessel has settled properly. Coral and sponges will take longer to colonize the wreck — possibly years.

Ship sinking for artificial reef is a post from: La Paz Scuba

No related posts.

b.i.n. = Baja Infortheque Network.