Ships to Reefs

The sinking of large obsolete ships to become artificial reefs adds a unique dimension to the Artificial Reef Program. In the coming years, the Program will again look to expand its Ships-to-Reefs efforts. This segment began in the mid 1970's with the reefing of 12 Liberty Ships at six sites along the Texas coast. Since that time, however, ships of this size have been virtually unavailable to coastal states. Recently, the U.S. Navy, U.S. Maritime Administration and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have drafted guidelines for coastal states to follow in the preparation of obsolete ships for their respective artificial reef programs. Texas will continue to compete for the opportunity to acquire these ships for our offshore waters.

The Program's current Ships-to-Reefs project is the USTS Texas Clipper.

This is the former Texas A & M University Merchant Marine training vessel decommissioned in 1996. We have been working on this project since 1998, and hope to have the ship reefed off the southern Texas coast sometime during 2006. Keep visiting our site to mark the progress of the Texas Clipper Reef Project.

It is ironic that there are twelve Liberty ships that form the nucleus of the Ships-to-Reefs segment of the Program along the Texas coast. These are some of the ships that survived enemy sinking attempts during World War II. Eleven of them were sunk successfully at four sites during 1975-1976. Learn more about the six Liberty Ship Reefs along the Texas coast.

Other vessels have become reefs off the Texas coast. The V.A. Fogg was inherited by the Texas Coastal and Marine Council after she sank on February 1, 1972. She had sailed from Freeport, Texas into the Gulf of Mexico after offloading a cargo of benzene. She was headed to a point 50 miles offshore to clean the tanks and was carrying a load of xylene. A spark ignited the benzene fumes and the volatile cargo created an explosion that ripped apart the ship's hull plating, almost splitting the vessel in two. She quickly sank in 100 feet of water. This unfortunate accident created the beginnings of the Freeport Liberty Ship Reef Site.

The Program has reefed other vessels over the years, including one 100 foot Navy barge, one obsolete 44 foot steel tugboat and four 100 foot hopper barges (see below)

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The Oaxaca, a Mexican freighter, was sunk in late July of 1942, by a German U-boat a few hours after she left the port of Corpus Christi. The ship was hit by one torpedo and broke in two, sinking within three or four minutes after she was struck. This historical shipwreck lies approximately 11 nautical miles offshore from Port O'Connor, resting in 60-64 feet of water. Sidescan sonar and sub-bottom profiler investigations suggest the ship is sitting upright in two pieces on the seafloor with a maximum profile of 8 feet. The Program has obtained the General Land Office surface lease and is waiting for the final approval of the Corps of Engineers reef building permit. By creating a nearshore reef in the vicinity of this historical shipwreck, we will take advantage of the structure that has been on site for years and further enhance the fishery while protecting this valuable historical site.