Cost of Artificial Reefs?

[TMHeimer]

It is common knowledge that artificial reefs help the environment by providing a place for aquatic life to attach itself, fish to use as shelter, etc. (though of course 300 years ago they didn't need any help).
Does anyone know the financial cost of readying a ship for sinking (toxins removed, safety hazzards removed for divers) and sinking it--- vs. whatever they would otherwise do to dispose of it/recycle some , etc. on land? I would assume muct of the metal would be "fatigued" and unusable or the ship may still be in service.
I'm just curious because the costs are never pointed out--just the environment issue. Is the govt. in favour of artificial reefs mainly for the environment or because it may cost less?

 

[Marie13]

In Lake Michigan, a couple of old boats were sunk off Chicago for artificial reefs and for divers. One was a party boat and the other was a former auto ferry in the Straits of Mackinac before the bridge was built in the late 50s. I believe most of the cleanup work was done by volunteers. I’d have to go searching to find out any info on costs involved.

 

[TMHeimer]

In Lake Michigan, a couple of old boats were sunk off Chicago for artificial reefs and for divers. One was a party boat and the other was a former auto ferry in the Straits of Mackinac before the bridge was built in the late 50s. I believe most of the cleanup work was done by volunteers. I’d have to go searching to find out any info on costs involved.

Thanks. That sounds like pretty small stuff that probably didn't require much "clean up" (thus the volunteers, plus toxins entering the water back then wasn't much of a concern). I'm talking about these big destroyers, etc. that they sink in the ocean, Gulf of Mex., etc.

 

[Marie13]

The Mac is 300 something feet long and the Buc I’m not sure about. They were sunk within the last 15 years or so.

 

[archman]

I've read several news reports over the last 20 years where the cost of a ship conversion into an artificial reef was posted. For example, the Oriskany's (partial) cleaning cost approximately $20 million. That's from a 2008 New York Times article that I just googled. So you can look a lot of the costs up with a detailed internet search. But you'll probably have to target each search to a specific ship. That's because each conversion job is a 1-off, custom project. And the overall conversion and sinking costs will vary enormously based on a mind-boggling number of factors.

 

[DiveClimbRide]

The hmnzs canterbury sunk in Northland NZ took $1m to make safe for sinking

 

[100days-a-year]

Steel is valuable enough for sunken war graves to be ravaged by salvors.
Artificial reefs are a luxury use of unused ships, though it can be argued they can contribute to a local economy.

 

[clownfishsydney]

Very expensive to do a warship, need to cut dozens of holes in hull and superstructure for entry/exit/light as well as remove all the wiring, bad things (asbestos etc) and then cleaned. Many millions of dollars for the ones that have been done in Australia.

 

[stiebs]

Just over a decade ago the ex-HMAS Canberra was prepared and sunk as an artificial reef here in Melbourne. According to the website at the time (Sink the Canberra - What has happened and what's still to do | ex HMAS Canberra Reef) the project received AU$7m in funding to secure and prepare the vessel. It took over a year to prepare for sinking, including all the bits that @clownfishsydney mentioned above.

 

[boulderjohn]

The Lady Luck is a popular dive attraction in Pompano Beach, Florida. At 324 feet, it is of considerable size. According to this article, two entities put up $312,000 each to get it there. One thing that probably made the job easier and reasonably cheap was that its past life was as a sludge hauler, so most of its interior consists of enormous open holds.