Category Archives: ship projects

Two Ships Scuttled

Two vessels were intentionally sunk offshore northeast Florida to create marine habitat and a new fishing and scuba ding location. Each vessel was over 100 feet long and went through rigorous preparations to become suitable artificial reef structures.

11-13-17Two vessels are intended to be sunk in the upcoming weeks off the coast of Volusia County Florida. The ships are destined to become artificial reefs and will evolve into thriving marine habitats. These structures will benefit the environment and provide recreational opportunities to fishermen...
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Sunken Coast Guard Tender Spike 5 Years Later

In the summer of 2009 the retired United States Coast Guard Vessel Spike was sunk off the coast of Jacksonville to create marine habitat. This summer makes 5 years since the deployment. TISIRI divers made several visits over the summer months to observe the current condition of the reef. Today the vessel has already become a flourishing reef. The brief video story below shows the dramatic difference between when the vessel was underwater on day one and now.
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A Look at the Sunken Spike 5 Years Later

6-14-14In the summer of 2009 Safe Harbor Boys Home provided a retired United States Coast Guard Vessel to the artificial reef program. The vessel, known as the Spike, was meticulously cleaned, transported offshore, and sank roughly 28 miles east of the St Johns River Inlet. Today...
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USS Mohawk Sinking News Segment

First Coast News interviews TISIRI's Joe Kistel in regards to the recent USS Mohawk artifiical reef deployment offshore Lee County Florida. Kistel describes the explosive ship sinking event and the significance of such a project in the county in which it resides. He also mentions TISIRI has a 200 foot vessel project in the works for northeast Florida. See the news clip below.
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Mohawk Cutter Deployed At Charlie's Reef

The deployment was a great event with great weather, 100's of spectator boats, and an entertaining fireworks show. The Mohawk was sunk by the means of cutting charges; explosives that cut through the vessels hull allowing water to rush in. After the explosives were detonated the Mohawk sunk within minutes.TISIRI's Joe Kistel and Ed Kalakauskis participated in the deployment events and investigated nearby artificial reef locations for TISIRI's Reefs Reveal mapping efforts. Stay tuned for the deployment day video and pictures from near by reef locations.
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Reef Ship Mohawk Departs Fort Myers

In less then 24 hours the cutter Mohawk will be resting on the sea floor offshore Lee county. Today, TISIRI's Joe Kistel and Ed Kalakauskis wish the Mohawk bon voyage. At roughly 9:30 this morning the ship called the Mohawk was untied from her last pier-side docking at Kelly Bro's Marina. The vessel began her tow offshore Lee County to anchor offshore for the sinking event tomorrow.
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Lee County Mohawk Cutter Artificial Reef Deployment

For those of you that are interested in viewing the Mohawk Reef deployment by boat TISIRI has provided a map below with the GPS coordinates of the center of Charlie's Reef and other existing reef sites in the area including a sunken vessel and a railroad cars reef. The Mohawk will be deployed in the Chalie's reef site and we would recommend boaters to head towards GPS coordinates 26°33.20N 82°43.20W (Charlie's Reef center point) until they see the large Mohawk on the horizon. Once on site please be aware there will be a .5 mile clearance distance from the vessel.
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Another Visit to the Potential Ship to Reef Project

This past Saturday the TISIRI team took a closer look at the vessel you see above. The vessel is roughly 85 feet long, 20 feet wide, and 28 feet tall and appears to be an ideal reef project candidate. We will learn more in the weeks to come. If all goes well this ship become an artificial reef as soon as this Spring.
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