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Burned Cruise Boat Spirit of Norfolk to be Reefed off Florida

Spirit of Norfolk during salvage efforts (Courtesy USCG)
Spirit of Norfolk during salvage efforts (Courtesy USCG)

Published Jul 31, 2024 8:01 PM by The Maritime Executive

The burned-out harbor cruise boat Spirit of Norfolk will be cleaned out and will be sunk off the Gulf Coast of Florida as an artificial reef. 

Spirit of Norfolk has been sold to Okaloosa County, Florida along with a second decommissioned vessel - the tug Skippin Sue - for a total of $740,000. Together, the two vessels will be sunk off Fort Walton Beach, where they will be a fish habitat and a dive attraction.

Okaloosa County has worked for years to buy and sink end-of-life tonnage off Fort Walton, creating new opportunities (and new revenue) for dive tour operators. The funding for the latest project comes from $900,000 in savings accrued by the county's commission during previous reefing ventures. The military picked up the cost of sinking the boats Crimson White and Countess Monarch, and two neighboring counties decided to split the cost of reefing the disused research vessel Deep Stim III. This left  surplus funding available, which the commission agreed to use to pay for an all-inclusive contract to acquire, clean and sink Spirit of Norfolk.

The Spirit of Norfolk's engine room caught fire while under way on June 7, 2022. Good Samaritan vessels responded to the scene and helped evacuate all 91 passengers and 17 crewmembers safely, drawing accolades for the speed and skill of their efforts. The vessel was towed to a nearby pier, where the fire continued to burn for four days, consuming all deck levels. It was written off as a total loss at a cost of $5 million.

The National Transportation Safety Board concluded that the fire likely started in combustible materials that had been stored next to the port side generator's exhaust pipe, and that firefighting efforts may have contributed to the later expansion of the blaze. 

As an attraction, Spirit of Norfolk will serve the area well, according to the county board. From keel to top deck, she will rest 40 feet above the seabed, plus another 16 feet of mast height - giving divers plenty to explore. 

Neighboring Escambia County has ambitions to buy and sink a far larger vessel - the storied transatlantic liner SS United States, the fastest vessel of her type ever to serve the New York-UK route.