tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20980931.post-21440935272079549252008-01-26T11:35:00.000Z2008-01-28T11:37:07.627Z<div align="justify">________________________________________________________________<br /><br /><a href="http://www.examiner.com/a-1181509~Officials_set_May_sink_date_for_ship_planned_as_artificial_reef.html">Examiner.com </a><br />January 26, 2008<br /><br /><br /><strong>KEY WEST, Fla.</strong> - Officials overseeing the transformation of a retired U.S. Air Force missile tracking ship into an artificial reef off Key West said Saturday they are planning to sink the ship May 15.<br /><br />The General Hoyt S. Vandenberg is currently at a Norfolk, Va., shipyard where workers are preparing it for sinking by removing environmental hazards. Plans are to scuttle the ship in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.<br /><br />Officials with Reefmakers, the organization overseeing the project, are planning to tow the 522-foot-long vessel to Key West sometime in March for final preparations.<br /><br />Supporters say the Vandenberg project will provide additional marine habitat and a new attraction for recreational divers.<br /><br />Before it was decommissioned in 1983, the Vandenberg also tracked manned U.S. space missions, beginning with Mercury blastoffs in the early 1960s. The ship played a role as a Russian science ship in "Virus," a 1999 motion picture starring Jamie Lee Curtis.<br /><br /><br />____<br /><a href="http://www.artificial-reefs.blogspot.com/"><span style="font-size:78%;">www.artificial-reefs.blogspot.com</span></a> </div>Pedro Calejahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10571580575817557080noreply@blogger.com