KEY WEST, Florida-
An online auction is taking place for the right to name an artificial reef project organizers hope to establish off the Florida Keys.
The artificial reef is to be created by sinking the retired U.S. Air Force missile-tracking ship General Hoyt S. Vandenberg, which monitored NASA space launches from 1963 to 1983.
Since 1984, the ship has been among other decommissioned vessels at the James River Naval Reserve Fleet in Virginia’s James River. The so-called Ghost Fleet is being thinned because of environmental concerns.
Bidding on the online auction site eBay Inc. begins at $900,000, with a reserve price of $1.3 million, said Joe Weatherby, a project organizer with Artificial Reefs of the Keys.
It’s the last piece of a funding puzzle required for the $5.7 million project. ARK has already gathered $3 million, but needs to come up with the remaining funds to avoid losing the ship to scrapyard.
“This is for someone who is looking for a legacy,” Weatherby said. “It’s something for an individual or a company that is permanent and positive for the environment.”
The proposed artificial reef is expected to attract marine life, provide an ongoing impact to the tourism-based economy and benefit the underwater environment by taking pressure off natural coral reefs.
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