Sink the VANDENBERG! Countdown Underway for Reefing Advocates to Acquire Necessary Funding

In the summer of 1980, a young officer from Massachusetts boarded the USNS HOYT S. VANDEBERG for his first shipping assignment. Equipped only with a Third Mate’s license that was not yet quite dry from its initial printing, he was lucky to have the job. Shipping prospects for US mariners were poor at that time, and only getting worse as the decade marched on. What followed was only six of the most exciting months of sea duty that anyone could have imagined, punctuated by ample and happy downtime in party-friendly Port Canaveral, FL. As it turned out, it would probably be the best duty he would ever have.

The ex-USAFS Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg was first commissioned as the troop transport USNS Gen. Harry Taylor. The ship saw service in WWII, the Hungarian Revolution, and the Cold War. After decommissioning, it even starred in a popular motion picture. In the 1970’s and 1980’s, it served as a missile tracker or “range instrumentation vessel,” stationed for much of that time in Port Canaveral, Florida. Its professional mariners were provided by the Military Sealift Command. Fast-forward to 2006: A diverse group of individuals has formed the “Artificial Reefs of the Keys,” an organization conceived, designed and financed specifically to bring the Vandenberg to the Florida Keys and sink the vessel as an artifical reef.

According to Joe Weatherby, founder of “Artificial Reefs of the Keys,” the ten year effort to bring the Vandenberg to the Florida Keys has reached a critical moment. With $4.4 million in committed funds for the project, the group is still $1.3 million short of the funds needed to adequately prepare, clean and transport the vessel to its proposed final resting place. Next week’s meeting (8 November) of the Key West City Commission may well determine the fate of the ambitious project. If the remainder of the funds can be assembled, Weatherby says that the Vandenberg could be reefed as early as the spring of 2008.

Anyone familiar with the processes associated with disposing of old, obsolete tonnage for scrapping in the new millennium also knows that the task of getting rid of these hulls is anything but easy. The U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD) has a Congressional mandate to do just that with more than 100 old vessels that are spread amongst three reserve fleets in California, Texas and Virginia. Through no fault of their own, MARAD has already missed one deadline, primarily because of the lack of adequate funding to do the job, but also because of the continuously changing, onerous - and sometimes ambiguous - regulatory requirements related to issues of toxic materials left inside the old ships. Recently, the US Coast Guard has even imposed somewhat controversial requirements related to the cleaning of the old hulls before disposal so as to prevent the spread of invasive species. As a result, says Weatherby, “The cost of preparing one of these vessels has gone from just under $2.25 million to almost $6 million.”

According to the Vandenberg reefing project’s sponsors, all of the federal and state permits to facilitate the lawful reefing of the vessel are in place. And while Joe Weatherby concedes that the full suite of toxins normally found on other vessels also exists on the Vandenberg, he also says that they have matched their funding requirements to that which would ensure the through cleaning of the vessel prior to reefing.

As an artificial reef, the ship will not only be a recreational resource for divers and fishermen, but will serve as an underwater classroom for the Florida Keys Community College, and be a platform for ground-breaking research in reef monitoring as mandated by the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary Management Plan. The ship's distinguished history will continue in its final disposition as a recreational, educational and scientific resource. But, only if the required funding can be secured. Joe Weatherby maintains that the Vandenberg project is “a rare chance to please all of the people, some of the time.” Beyond this, he explains, “The Vandenberg has commercial value to the Keys and its proposed reefing position will take recreational traffic pressure off of the only living coral reef in the country and take it onto the artificial platform.”

The ship that transported thousands of US servicemen in time of war later also provided the platform from which a frightened rookie Third Mate saw a missile break the surface (tracked & planned) a mere 100 yards off the port beam on a hot and muggy afternoon in the summer of 1980. And while both functions were an important part of the ship’s history and service to a grateful nation, the Vandenberg’s greatest purpose may still be yet to come. As MARAD looks forward to the (possible) proper and lawful disposal of just one more of their obsolete reserve fleet vessels, others hope for the good still to come from this remarkable vessel; this time, below the surface.

Visit the Vandenberg Reefing Site at: http://www.bigshipwrecks.com

Joseph Keefe served as Third Mate aboard the USNS Vandenberg for six happy months immediately after graduating from the Massachusetts Maritime Academy in 1980. He has more than a passing interest in the final fate of the “VANDY.” He can be reached at [email protected].