The Florida Keys’ newest planned artificial reef, the ex-US Air Force-missile tracking ship General Hoyt S. Vandenberg, reached the half-way point on its voyage from Norfolk, Virginia, to Key West, Florida, Thursday afternoon. It is to be moored behind the USS Mohawk, a historic Coast Guard cutter that has been transformed into a floating museum.
In the 1960s and 70s,the ship monitored manned space flights and served as a set in the 1999 movie Virus.
Now, thousands of man hours are being invested to cleanse the vessel of pollutants — including the removal of almost 800,000 feet of wire — so it can be sunk as an artificial reef off Key West, Florida. The ship is scheduled to be scuttled in early June of 2009, in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, as an attraction for sport divers.
Some 70 percent of the $8.6 million effort was used to rid the vessel of contaminants. Several area banks, including First State Bank of the Florida Keys, BB&T and Orion have lent the project fiscal resources that are to be reimbursed through a combination of commitments from federal, state and local sources after the ship has been scuttled.
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