Storm uprights Spiegel Grove
Federal officials to close off site until stability is determined
BY STEVE GIBBS
Citizen Staff
KEY LARGO Underwater turbulence generated by Hurricane Dennis has uprighted the 510-foot artificial reef known as the Spiegel Grove.
The Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary is working on an emergency closure of the site while it assesses the ship's stability and its general condition. Workers will be removing the mooring buoys temporarily, sanctuary spokeswoman Cheva Heck said.
The shifted position of the 510-foot ship comes as a surprise because the area experienced minimal tropical-storm force winds during the passage of Hurricane Dennis on Saturday.
On Monday, a boat from Key Largo dive shop Ocean Divers visited the former Navy ship, which was scuttled in 130 feet of water May 17, 2002. When divers arrived at the site six miles offshore, they saw that several mooring balls were missing.
The dive boat tied off on one of the three remaining moorings and instructors Bob Snyder and Steve Schalk descended the mooring lines.
At 90 feet, Schalk said he saw nothing and came to the surface. Snyder, who descended to the ship's bow, was stunned by what he saw.
"I was in shock," he said Monday. "I had to ask myself, 'Am I narcked [suffering from nitrogen narcosis]?' There was only 10-foot visibility, so I dropped down 10 feet and I could see both sides of the ship. It was sitting upright."
In 2002, the Spiegel Grove sank prematurely, and upside-down, with its bow jutting 50 feet in the air while it was being prepared for scuttling. Contractors on the project were hired by the Key Largo Chamber of Commerce, which spearheaded the effort. Salvers later turned the 6,880-ton ship on its side, where it remained, becoming a popular dive attraction and drawing many tourists from the heavily dived coral reef tract.
Original plans called for the ship to be sunk upright, a task ultimately performed three years later by Mother Nature.
The fact that a large ship rolled 90 degrees as the result of a hurricane that never came close to Key Largo has Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary officials concerned.
"It's good in that it is what the supporters of the project wanted," said sanctuary Superintendent Billy Causey. "It's bad in that it is not supposed to move. It makes me worried about the Vandenberg project."
Artificial Reefs of the Keys wants to scuttle the 520-foot USS Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg in 140 feet of water seven miles off Key West. The wreck would be accessible by both advanced and intermediate divers and snorkelers, because sections of the top of the boat would be 40 feet below the surface of the ocean. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration already has issued a permit for the project.
The organizers of the Vandenberg project have been working with the world's top artificial reef experts on the project. The experts collectively have sunk 18 ships, more than any other [group] in the world, project organizer Capt. Joe Weatherby said.
The Vandenberg can withstand a 100-year storm and is being weighted down with an extra six million pounds of ballast and locked in place with extra anchors, Weatherby said. The Vandenberg is twice as heavy as the Spiel Grove.
"It's our position that in a hurricane, the Vandenberg is the safest place and the least likely to move," Weatherby said.
"We're very concerned that the ship moved in a relatively minor storm," Heck said of the Spiegel Grove.
Heck pointed out that the Key Largo chamber and Monroe County, which helped fund the project, would be responsible for any damage the ship may have caused to the living coral reef.
Late Monday afternoon, Hank Becker, who leads the Upper Keys mooring team for the sanctuary, was heading back out to the ship for another look.
Heck said a stability analysis would be conducted before the ship would again be open as a dive site.
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