Page 10: of Marine News Magazine (June 2006)

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10 • MarineNews • June, 2006

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The ex-Oriskany, a decommissioned aircraft carrier, was sunk 24 miles off the coast of Pensacola, Fla., on

May 17 to form an artificial reef. The 888-ft. ship took about 37 minutes to sink below the surface. After 25 years of service to the Navy in operations in Korea, Viet- nam and the Mediterranean, ex-Oriskany will now bene- fit marine life, sport fishing and recreation diving off the coast of the Florida panhandle. With a blast that echoed across the waters of the Gulf of Mexico, the USS

Oriskany began its 36-minute-long descent into the depths of the blue waters some 25 miles off the coast of

Pensacola, Fla., May 17. An estimated 250 vessels filled with spectators encircled the near 900-ft. decommis- sioned Navy aircraft carrier to witness its historic plunge into 212 ft. of water to begin her new life as an artificial reef as part of the Navy's new initiative to dispose of sev- eral such vessels. More than 30 office staff members and project staff from Resolve Marine Group, Inc. were on hand to watch as the vessel was carefully rigged with explosives and then ceremoniously sunk. It was a touch- ing sight to staff members — largely, due to the fact that their involvement with the 61-year old vessel began near- ly three years ago when Resolve Marine Group, in part- nership with Esco Marine Services of Brownsville,

Texas, was awarded the contract to remediate the vessel - that is, prepare the vessel, environmentally, for sinking.

The process was a long one and proved to be quite daunt- ing from the beginning. Four contractors, who were pre- viously awarded contracts for the remediation task, defaulted on their contracts and never finished the job - it was just too complicated and involved too much red tape.

Aside from actually cleaning the vessel and removing potentially hazardous material, the contractor would bear the burden of strict scrutiny of the Environmental Pro- tection Agency. After over 24 months of scrubbing, cut- ting and scraping and inspection upon inspection at sev- eral phases by the EPA, Resolve was rewarded with the agency's letter of approval to proceed with the sinking earlier this year.

The aircraft carrier was built in 1945 and decommis- sioned in 1977. She was the last of the Essex class carri- ers in the Navy's active fleet at the time and served her country during the Korea and Vietnam Wars. Soon after her sinking, the warn-torn vessel will begin service of another type: offering much needed refuge to marine life — the byproducts of which, namely the re-enlivened local fishing and recreational diving industries — will bring a much needed economic boost to Pensacola and the surrounding area after the region was ravaged by

Hurricane Ivan in 2004.

News

Resolve, Navy Sink USS Oriskany

Resolve Marine Group employees, left, Aaron Nahapetian and Robert Lee Jr., begin pulling cable in off the flight deck aboard the decommis- sioned aircraft carrier USS Oriskany (CVA 34) in preparation for the ship's scheduled sinking. Oriskany is schedule to be scuttled 22 miles south of Pensacola in approximately 212 ft. of water in the Gulf of Mexico May 17, 2006, where it became the largest ship ever intentional- ly sunk as an artificial reef. After the Oriskany reaches the bottom, ownership of the vessel will transfer from the Navy to the State of Flori- da. U.S. Navy photo by Journalist First Class Jackey Bratt

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