Okaloosa County Plans 990-Foot SS United States Reef off Florida Gulf Coast

3 articles · Updated · Quartz · Nov 11

Okaloosa County is moving to acquire the 990-foot SS United States under a 2024 agreement and sink the retired liner as an artificial reef near Destin and Fort Walton Beach.
The county is targeting two immediate uses: a new dive attraction and a large fish-drawing structure for charter boats along the Emerald Coast, where tourism and recreational fishing are central to the local economy.
Required steps still stand between the plan and deployment, including U.S. Army Corps permitting, coordination with Florida's reef program, and removal of fuel, oils, PCBs and other contaminants under federal guidance.
Research on artificial reefs remains mixed because fish clustering around wrecks does not prove they increase regional stocks; in heavily fished areas, reefs can simply concentrate fish and make them easier to catch.
Florida's earlier ship reefs, including the USS Oriskany sunk in 2006, show the tourism appeal of large wrecks, while failures such as Fort Lauderdale's 1972 Osborn tire reef underscore the environmental risks of poor preparation.