Tug boat to be sunk in the Gulf for new artificial reef

PENSACOLA, Fla. (AP) - A decommissioned tug boat will be sunk off the waters of Pensacola beach to become a new artificial reef.

The Pensacola News Journal (https://on.pnj.com/1JLbhwB ) reports the Florida Artificial Reef Program will purchase, clean and sink the Ocean Wind in 90 to 95 feet of water in the Escambia Southeast Artificial Reef Site roughly 10 nautical miles south of Pensacola Pass in the Gulf of Mexico.

Workers on the project say they hope to prepare the boat for sinking by this week. First, workers will have to strip the boat of anything the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation doesn’t want in the Gulf, including anything electric, any glass, flaking paint and anything else harmful.

Ocean Wind will be the latest in a growing list of artificial reefs in the Gulf.

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Information from: Pensacola (Fla.) News Journal, https://www.pensacolanewsjournal.com