Maritime Ghost Fleet: Opportunity or
Environmental Hazard?
Rosanne Skirble Washington 15 Jun 2002, 06:43 UTC
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A decaying fleet of ships that few people even know exists is anchored off the American East Coast state of Virginia. That's because the ships, some more than 150 meters long and as tall as twelve story buildings, are huddled together in the waters near a military base and largely hidden from view unless you are on the water. There's no easy way to get rid of those ships, which are a potential environmental nightmare. | ||
The 'Ghost Fleet' floating in Virginia's James River VOA Photo - R. Skirble | Article is copied on site to save the information too many links vanish. |
On both sides of a commercial shipping lane on the James
River in southern Virginia is a floating grave yard for retired U.S. merchant
ships. Tied together with thick wire cables, the ancient flotilla creaks and
groans with old age.
The
retired USS Marshfield with missile silos still intact VOA Photo - R. Skirble |
Bob
Rohr VOA Photo - R. Skirble |
The pumping is on the Marine Fiddler, a ship built
to carry troops at the end of World War II. It became part of the Ghost Fleet
almost thirty years ago. Now it is rusted and paint has flaked from every
surface. Maintenance is no small task, says Bob Rohr, who guides us to the upper
deck, which stretches nearly 160 meters. "One of the problems that we run
into here is the amount of growth that is at the bottom of these ships," he
says. "It is almost like a floating reef. It is very difficult for a diver
to find a small hole, especially a small hole and that is typically what they
are."
Workers
conduct a pumping operation while looking for a leak on the Marine
Fiddler VOA Photo - R. Skirble |
Patricia
Jackson Courtesy: James River Association |
Congress has mandated that the Maritime Administration, the
government agency that has custody of the James River Reserve Fleet, dispose of
the Ghost Fleet by 2006, but has not yet appropriated the money to do the job.
This leaves Curt Michanczyk, who directs the disposal program, with a problem.
"We have a backlog of ships that continues to increase. In other words we
receive more ships than we are able to dispose of and that bothers us," he
says. "That's a problem that we feel contributes to environmental threats
even though we dispose of the ships that we feel are the highest priority and in
the worst shape. Obviously there is always that potential that we are not
disposing of ships at a fast enough rate and maybe we will have a discharge
incident."
The
rust covered Arthur Huddell rests in the 'Ghost Fleet' VOA Photo - R. Skirble |
Curt Michanczyk says one alternative has been to turn the ships into artificial reefs. "The reasons people want people want reefs are various," he says. "One of the main ones is to improve fishing, to build additional reefs where they don't have any reefs because that will increase both commercial and sport fishing. Some of the other uses are to promote marine life beyond the fish species. There may be a damaged area or where a state desires to grow other reefs so in the absence of rock or some other material a ship makes great sense. One of the other uses that is quite popular is for recreational diving."
Unfortunately not all ships in the Ghost Fleet are candidates for artificial reefs. Even if they were, the cost, although less than scrapping, is still $1 million for each ship.
Some coastal states like Florida see a long-term return on the investment. Florida recently purchased the Spiegel Grove, a 56-year old navy ship, which served in the Mediterranean and in the Caribbean during the Cold War. It has been part of the Ghost Fleet for over a decade.
Tim Mullane is operations manager for Bay Bridge Enterprises, the company hired to make the Spiegel Grove safe enough to sink. He says it took a 30-man crew nearly four months to remove all contaminants and practically everything else from the ship. "The rule is anything that is loose or unattached has to come off. Anything that anybody can play with and possibly get off the ship has to come off the ship," he says. "Any wood or plastic has to come off the ship. Rubber items have to come off the ship. Any chains or cables had to be removed. Anything that a diver could manage to catch themselves on or wrap themselves up in had to come off the ship."
The Spiegel Grove, the largest ship ever turned into an artificial reef, was sunk this month in the National Marine Sanctuary off the Florida coast.
Curt Michanczyk, who manages the disposal program for the U.S. Maritime Administration, applauds the effort. But, he says, it is only a beginning. He is working with the maritime industry to come up with other innovative solutions for recycling.
He says what's needed is for Congress to better understand
the environmental hazards associated with these obsolete ships and appropriate
the funds to do something about them. And he says a dialogue between the
Maritime Administration and Congress is underway for that purpose.