MAY 15 SCHEDULED DATE FOR VANDENBERG SINKING

Key West, Florida Keys - Project organizers overseeing the conversion of a retired U.S. Air Force missile tracking ship into an artificial reef off Key West announced Friday that May 15 would be the scheduled scuttling date for the General Hoyt S. Vandenberg.

The sinking of the Vandenberg, a 522-foot ship that tracked manned space launches beginning with Mercury through early Space Shuttle missions, has been the obsession of members of the Artificial Reefs of the Keys for the last 10 years. You can see the project in detail at www.bigshipwrecks.com.

"This is a major event for us, a great opportunity for the health of the reef as well as an economic shot in the arm for the Keys," said Chris Norwood, ARK president. "Tens of thousands of people have been waiting to hear this date."

Currently, the ship is in a Virginia shipyard with workers ridding the vessel of all environmental hazards, prior to its scuttling in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. Officials with Reefmakers, the project's facilitator, are planning to coordinate towing of the Vandenberg to Key West sometime in March for final preparations.

The Vandenberg reef project will provide additional marine habitat and relieve recreational pressure off America's only contiguous coral barrier reef. It should also provide a unique attraction for visitors as well as a venue for environmental educators and students.

"Not only do artificial reefs divert recreational user pressure from natural reefs, they also create a valuable habitat and new breeding grounds for the marine environment", said Joe Weatherby of Reefmakers. "The Vandenberg will provide tools and resources to create sustained educational, social and cultural programs while also generating substantial revenues for the community."

The Vandenberg was originally commissioned in 1944 as Gen. Harry Taylor to serve as a World War II Army troop transport ship. In 1963 the ship was re-commissioned under its current name and served in the Atlantic Missile Range becoming one of the most technologically advanced platforms in the world during that era.

Retired in 1983, the Vandenberg also saw cinema duty as a Russian science ship in "Virus," a 1999 release starring Jamie Lee Curtis.

Contact:
Joe Weatherby
REEFMAKERST
Tel: (305) 797-7077
E-mail: joew@reefmakers.com

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