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Salvage Firm Hired to Finish Sinking USS Spiegel Grove Key Largo, Fla. - The Chamber of Commerce hired a marine salvage company Sunday to finish sinking a Navy ship that is lodged upside down in the ocean with its tip protruding from the water. The 510-foot Spiegel Grove sank by accident Friday hours before crews had planned to send it to the bottom of the sea to create an artificial reef. The ship is resting upside down in about 130 feet of water, six miles offshore with its bow protruding about 50 feet out of the water. Key Largo Chamber of Commerce officials signed a contract with Resolve Towing and Salvage, of Fort Lauderdale, to upright the ship in the water. The cost of the contract was not released, but could exceed $250,000. The project already has cost nearly $1 million, with about half the money coming from the Monroe County Tourist Development Council and the rest from the sale of commemorative dive medallions and community donations. Divers Direct has been a potent ally in the Spiegel Grove project from the very inception. They contributed a generous cash donation in the early fundraising efforts, and CEO Kevin Senecal has additionally contributed his personal expertise and experience in the role of business manager to the project. They have guaranteed a $250,000 advance against the sale of dive medallions, and are providing the e-commerce fulfillment for lifetime medallions at www.diversdirect.com. Workers will attempt to lift the ship off of the ocean floor using heavy air lift bags and compressed air injection to remove water from the hull. Then tug boats and water currents will be used to roll the ship. "The ultimate objective is to get the ship upright," said Resolve President Joe Farrell. "At the very least, we hope to get the Spiegel Grove on her side." Equipment and personnel are expected to arrive at the site Wednesday, and it will take about a week to get the vessel ready for rotation, Farrell said. As of today, May 20, compressed air is already being injected into ballast tanks, and there is consideration of bringing a jack-up barge to facilitate orienting the Spiegel Grove upright. The prematurely sunk ship does not pose an environmental threat to the ocean or nearby natural coral reefs, said Lt. Commander Dave Score, Upper Keys region manager for the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. Project Manager Rob Bleser said local dive crews have begun recovering tools and equipment left behind by workers when they fled the sinking ship. The scuttling will make the Spiegel Grove the largest vessel ever intentionally sunk to create an artificial reef. (More News)

Salvage Firm Hired to
Finish Sinking USS Spiegel Grove

Key Largo, Fla. - The Chamber of Commerce hired a marine salvage company Sunday to finish sinking a Navy ship that is lodged upside down in the ocean with its tip protruding from the water.

The 510-foot Spiegel Grove sank by accident Friday hours before crews had planned to send it to the bottom of the sea to create an artificial reef. The ship is resting upside down in about 130 feet of water, six miles offshore with its bow protruding about 50 feet out of the water.

Key Largo Chamber of Commerce officials signed a contract with Resolve Towing and Salvage, of Fort Lauderdale, to upright the ship in the water.

The cost of the contract was not released, but could exceed $250,000. The project already has cost nearly $1 million, with about half the money coming from the Monroe County Tourist Development Council and the rest from the sale of commemorative dive medallions and community donations. Divers Direct has been a potent ally in the Spiegel Grove project from the very inception. They contributed a generous cash donation in the early fundraising efforts, and CEO Kevin Senecal has additionally contributed his personal expertise and experience in the role of business manager to the project. They have guaranteed a $250,000 advance against the sale of dive medallions, and are providing the e-commerce fulfillment for lifetime medallions at www.diversdirect.com.

Workers will attempt to lift the ship off of the ocean floor using heavy air lift bags and compressed air injection to remove water from the hull. Then tug boats and water currents will be used to roll the ship.

"The ultimate objective is to get the ship upright," said Resolve President Joe Farrell. "At the very least, we hope to get the Spiegel Grove on her side."

Equipment and personnel are expected to arrive at the site Wednesday, and it will take about a week to get the vessel ready for rotation, Farrell said. As of today, May 20, compressed air is already being injected into ballast tanks, and there is consideration of bringing a jack-up barge to facilitate orienting the Spiegel Grove upright.

The prematurely sunk ship does not pose an environmental threat to the ocean or nearby natural coral reefs, said Lt. Commander Dave Score, Upper Keys region manager for the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.

Project Manager Rob Bleser said local dive crews have begun recovering tools and equipment left behind by workers when they fled the sinking ship.

The scuttling will make the Spiegel Grove the largest vessel ever intentionally sunk to create an artificial reef. (More News)

Under the bow