So THIS is what the Titanic looked like going down?

[zridling]

Thought you might like some awesome photos of a really big freakin' ship being sunk for coral reef building:
http://www.irishmansoftware.com/Oriskany.htm

   

[mrainey]

Seems like all that steel could have been put to better use, considering that the price of steel for manufacturing has gone out the roof.

[Rover]

Cool pics.  I'll bet it's harder to build a reef than come up with more steel. 

[mouser]

pretty cool.

[Carol Haynes]

Sorry - am I the only one that thinks this is just another example of gross polution of the environment for the sake of cheap disposal of a ship?

[jgpaiva]

Nice images! But i bet a video would be even more impressive, the noise of such ship sinking should be enourmous (i think.. ahah).

@Carol: They say it's to build a reef, i belive if it was to dispose of the ship, it'd be cheaper to dismantle it and sell the steel (considering that would most probably generate profit).

[Carol Haynes]

You gatta be kidding - the amount of pollution (oil and toxic chemicals) in that wreck are hardly conducive to a healthy reef growing on it!

As for dismantling ... one of the biggest problems countrys are having with old ships is what to do with them to dispose of them. It is frowned upon now to send these ships to Bangladesh where people dismantle them by hand on the beach in atrocious conditions for little more than slave wages and it is certainly not cost effective or politically expedient to get them dismantled in the west.

There is a huge issue at the moment in the UK because years ago the US sent some ex US Navy ships to Teeside to be dismantled - there has been huge opposition locally and nationally (by almost everyone except the contractors and the government) because the issues of toxic waste and ecological damage are enormous. They are still sitting rotting away off the NE coast of England and the dispute shows no sign of being resolved.

The US government need ways to dispose of clapped out ships - believe me there is nothing altruistic in what they are doing - a few tons of dynamite are a hell of a lot cheaper than sending these halfway round the world to be scrapped.

[mrainey]

Sorry - am I the only one that thinks this is just another example of gross polution of the environment for the sake of cheap disposal of a ship?

It's being touted as an artificial reef that will become a fishing and diving paradise and thereby enrich the region to the tune of 90+ million every year.

So, maybe gross pollution of the environment to fatten some Florida wallets?

I wasn't aware of all the environmental problems associated with dismantling.  What CAN we do with these huge old ships?

[Carol Haynes]

The cost should be bourne in the country of origin to dismantle them properly - preferably in the shipyards where they were built that are crying out for work (if they haven't already gone bust). Ain't gonna happen though - governments haven't got the guts to put up taxes to decommission Navy ships and the private sector does what the private sector always does - hit and run.

My personal opinion is this it is intolerable the waythings are at the moment - most are simply sent to poor countries where there is little regrad for human rights to be trashed and pollute their environment.

[Eóin]

Perhaps it was cleaned before sinking it, it looked pretty stripped from the images maybe they removed most (all) of the pollutants.

Just an idea.

[Rover]

You gatta be kidding - the amount of pollution (oil and toxic chemicals) in that wreck are hardly conducive to a healthy reef growing on it!

I think you're hearing some mis-information.  Ships have already been sunk of the FL cost and reefs are flourishing.  What?  You thought they sent them down with have a tank of fuel or somehting?

[housetier]

Impressive images. I have never seen such a large ship sink.

If they do it right, it will help help build reefs.

[Carol Haynes]

I think you're hearing some mis-information.  Ships have already been sunk of the FL cost and reefs are flourishing.  What?  You thought they sent them down with have a tank of fuel or somehting?

No I was quoting the problems described by my local ship building firm on the problems of removing toxic waste from ships when decommissioning them. They recon that it is almost impossible - even if you remove all the engines and fuel tanks.

Here are a few relevant links:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/3377417.stm (esp the table at the bottom)

http://www.greenconsumerguide.com/index.php?news=2264&icid=I033-1142108-148A

Yet even the U.S., which is not a signatory to the Convention, considered four decommissioned navy vessels as waste in 2003

http://www.time.com/time/europe/magazine/printout/0,13155,1151751,00.html

http://www.edie.net/news/news_story.asp?id=10029