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Warship will make a great reef

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Contributed by: Henry Cabbage on 6/2/2009

June 2, 2009
As I see it column
By FWC Chairman Rodney Barreto
Photo at http://myfwc.com/ABOUT/About_commissioners.htm

FWC helps Vandenberg reef become a reality

The highly anticipated placement of the world's second largest ex-military ship as an artificial diving and fishing reef near Key West has finally been accomplished. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) worked closely with its project partners for more than a decade to successfully deploy the decommissioned military ship Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg on May 27.
The ship was safely towed from dock at the East Quay Wall in Truman Annex Harbor to its final resting place the morning before its planned sinking. The FWC's Division of Law Enforcement took the lead in working with the Navy, Coast Guard, Key West Police and Monroe County Sheriff's Office as well as local fire and rescue officers on offshore security operations throughout the entire sinking event.
Thousands of delighted onlookers watched as 44 carefully placed explosive charges blasted holes in the 523-foot ship's hull. It took just one minute and 54 seconds for the Vandenberg to slip below the surface and ease itself right-side-up on the sea bottom at a site about seven miles south-southeast of Key West, in 140 feet of water, in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.
Soon after the ship settled on the sandy bottom, FWC divers joined a team of other underwater specialists and surveyed the ship to ensure all the explosive charges had detonated and the ship was safe for public diving.
Other divers retrieved more than 20 cameras that were mounted on the ship to capture images of the Vandenberg as it sank, and another team, led by Keys Sanctuary staff, secured mooring buoys near the ship. Once officials determined the ship was safely secured, public diving and fishing on the Keys' newest artificial reef began.
The Vandenberg will provide recreational diving, ecotourism and fishing enhancements to the Florida Keys and provide a needed lift to the economy of Key West and its neighboring communities. The colorful vessel was commissioned in 1943 as a World War II troop transport ship, and it later became a missile range instrument ship in the 1960s, defending against missile attacks and tracking rocket and early space shuttle launches.
The ship was placed in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary near Key West to help divert fishing- and diving-user pressure away from nearby natural reefs. The FWC estimates the vessel's minimum 100-year life span will contribute stable, long-term habitat for scores of marine fish species and provide exceptional diving and fishing opportunities for Florida residents and visitors from around the world.
According to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration projections, the Vandenberg artificial reef will result in an annual increase of about $7.5 million in expenditures in the Monroe County economy and will create about 195 full- and part-time jobs.
The FWC played a major role in providing funding and technical assistance for the project since early 2001, including helping the City of Key West secure permits for the ship and performing numerous inspections of the vessel while it was being readied for its safe deployment.
The FWC served as the project liaison among the City of Key West (which owns the ship), Reefmakers, Inc. (the prime contractor for the project), the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, the U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The FWC managed nearly $2.5 million in funding for the ship's preparation, cleanup and monitoring out of total project costs of about $8.5 million. FWC funding partners included the Governor's Office of Tourism, Trade and Economic Development; MARAD; City of Key West, Monroe County; and Keys Tourist Development Council.
The FWC also assisted in the deployment of two other large ex-military vessels off the coast of Florida - the dock-landing ship Spiegel Grove near Key Largo in 2002 and the aircraft carrier Oriskany near Pensacola in 2006.
As chairman of the FWC, I am proud of the contributions our artificial reef, law enforcement and community relations team and all of our partners made to the Vandenberg project and encourage everyone to visit the Florida Keys and see this welcome addition to Florida's artificial reef "crown of jewels."

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