James River Ghost Fleet Could Be Reefs

(Newport News, Va.) - Some of the 68 fuel-laden ships that make up the "Ghost Fleet" in the James River are being considered for a second life elsewhere as reefs that would attract divers and fish.

"Somebody very smart came up with this idea that since Congress has all these ships, some of them would be better to make into reefs instead of scrap," said Tim Mullane, shipyard project manager at Bay Bridge Enterprises in Chesapeake.

Mullane is one of several shipyard managers interested in capitalizing on the $31 million that Congress gave the U.S. Maritime Administration this year for scrapping or sinking the James River ships.

The agency is choosing which of the 10 shipyards that bid for the job will dispose of the ships, said Robyn Boerstling, agency spokeswoman. It's also studying which ships would be prime candidates for sinking.

A Key West, Fla.-based diving group is interested in the retired Navy ship Vandenberg, which Universal Pictures used as a platform for the 1999 action movie "Virus."

A former missile-tracking ship, the Vandenberg has plenty of heavy equipment that will make great underwater "hidey holes" for fish and divers, said Joe Weatherby, president of Artificial Reefs of the Keys.

"We didn't want something that looked like a wedding cake or a freighter," he said. "We wanted something different."

For about seven years, Weatherby's group has been seeking permits and planning the sinking of the Vandenberg in the Florida Keys at a cost between $2 million and $3 million.

"The only thing holding up the project right now is the money," he said.

To raise money, the diving group is selling T-shirts that read, "Sink the Vandenberg Shipwrecker."

A lot of work has to go into a ship before it's sunk. First, the fuel has to be pumped out. The James River fleet holds more than 10.9 million gallons of fuel, including oil and diesel, the Maritime Administration said.

The Vandenberg alone contains about a half-million gallons of diesel, Weatherby said.

Shipyard workers also have to remove engines and transmissions that could contain oil; anything that could be an underwater obstruction such as masts, cable and plastics that might break loose and float; and gauges and fluorescent light fixtures that might contain mercury.

Beyond environmental safety, the ship must be prepped for sinking and diving, said Paul Kruger, an environmental-protection specialist for the Army Corps of Engineers.

"Openings are cut, so divers don't become disoriented and lost in there," he said. "It's hard to see which way is up sometimes."

Small explosive charges are placed on the ship so it floods levelly as it sinks.

If the proper steps aren't followed, the outcome can be embarrassing and dangerous. In May 2002, the retired Navy transport ship Spiegel Grove sank too quickly off Key Largo, Fla. Its stern rested on the ocean floor, while trapped air caused the rest of the 510-foot ship to arch out of the water.

Environmental officials were worried that the ship would drift and crash into nearby coral reefs. It took more than three weeks for the Spiegel Grove to finally sink, landing on its side, instead of its belly. Incidents like that have some government agencies wary about permitting more ships to be sunk. The ship was once part of the James River fleet.

"The Spiegel Grove raised a lot of concerns," said Cheva Heck, spokeswoman for the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, one of 13 federally protected areas in U.S. waters. "We will look at the Vandenberg, then there will be a moratorium," she said.

The Corps of Engineers spent about 10 months processing its permit for the Vandenberg. Other permitting agencies include the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Coast Guard and state agencies.

The lack of a standard permitting process is one reason that few organizations are willing to start ship-sinking campaigns, Boerstling said.

The Maritime Administration recently sent letters to marine-resource officials in several states, asking them whether they would be interested in sinking part of the James River fleet.

Virginia won't be sinking any ships until the EPA streamlines the process, said Mike Mier, artificial-reef coordinator for the Virginia Marine Resources Commission.

Sinking something close to home will be a challenge. Chesapeake Bay is too shallow, with an average depth of 21 feet. Deep enough water about 80 feet is found only about eight miles out into the Atlantic.

(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)