Texas Clipper Ship Update
Previous Updates
Status as of November, 2007
Remediation of all hazardous and non-hazardous materials has been completed. The final remediation report has been submitted to the US Environmental Protection Agency for approval. As soon as we receive authorization from EPA (hopefully later this month), we will set a sinking date. At this time we are projecting a sinking date in October. More information will be posted on our website as we hear from the US EPA.
All scheduled modifications to the ship for diver safety, nautical safety and scientific study have been completed. Diver guide lines have been installed between masts which were cut to a level that will lie fifty feet below the surface when she is reefed. Mooring buoy attachments have been installed. A series of racks that will hold removable fouling plates cut from deck steel have been mounted at various locations aboard the ship. These will be monitored and studied over time for their progress in providing substrate for marine life growth. Sixteen baseline samples of hull and bulkhead steel have been collected by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Texas A&M University-College Station as the start point for a corrosion study. The study will determine rates of corrosion of the ship structure and be useful in understanding the corrosion process for all types of downed ships in other parts of the world as well.
Status as of June 25, 2007
We now plan to reef the USTS Texas Clipper in mid to late August 2007. Work on the cleanup is in the final stages of completion. All decks have been sandblasted to remove the tar-like substance that covered most surfaces and the sand has been vacuumed up and disposed of in a certified landfill for hazardous waste. All fuel tanks have been cleaned and we will be conducting post-cleanup sampling to ensure they meet the national standards. We are preparing for a final walk-through of the ship in the next two weeks and are completing a report on the entire reefing process to be submitted to U.S. EPA and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for their review.
Modifications to the ship for diver safety, nautical safety and scientific study are in progress. Diver guide lines are being installed atop and between the masts which were cut to a level that will lie fifty feet below the surface when she is reefed. Marker buoy and mooring buoy attachments are being installed. A series of racks that will hold removable plates cut from deck steel will be mounted at various locations aboard the ship. These will be monitored and studied over time for their progress in providing substrate for marine life growth.
As work is completed and the approval process proceeds, we will provide an update with a more accurate prediction of when we expect to tow her into the Gulf and reef her. At this point, August is likely, and mid to late August is the probable window. We will know one to two weeks out the exact date we plan to reef her, but weather conditions will have to be right, so that could add days to the event, even at the last minute. If you are making plans to attend the reefing, flexibility is the key. After ten years of effort, the end is now in sight for Texas to have a world class artificial reef. We are confident that superb diving and sport fishing opportunities are just around the corner.
Project Update April 19, 2007
Due to the presence of a tar-like substance on many of the interior walls and ceilings of the ship, the date for completing environmental remediation has now been extended to late May. The tar contains levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) that exceed 50ppm and must be removed to meet national guidelines for preparing ships to become artificial reefs. This tar substance was unknown to us before layers of wall covering, ceiling tiles, and insulation was removed, exposing the metal bulkheads and overhead structures.
Much progress has been made to date. Asbestos removal has been completed, with 1680 cubic yards of ceiling and wall tiles removed. Over 226,000 lbs of PCB-containing materials have been d isposed of (e.g., air duct gaskets and electrical wiring). Approximately 360,000 gallons of hydrocarbons (fuels and oils) have been removed along with 32,500 gallons of non-hazardous waste water. Nearly 300,000 lbs of non-hazardous solids have also been disposed of. At the end of remediation and hull modifications, approximately 700 tons of metal and debris will have been removed. Following completion of the cleanup and modifications by the contractor, the ship will remain in the Brownsville harbor awaiting approval by the U.S. EPA before she is reefed.
We now plan to reef the USTS Texas Clipper in June 2007. As information becomes available to better estimate the work remaining, we will update this web site with a more exact prediction of the window of dates we expect to tow her into the Gulf and reef her. Of course the actual sinking will ultimately be contingent upon fair weather conditions. The sinking plan calls for a controlled flooding process. No explosives will be used in the sinking. Large openings along her side above the waterline have been cut to allow seawater to flow into her. These have been tack welded closed and are to be opened at sea once she is in position above her reef location. A series of special valves have been installed and they will be opened by the contractor to allow flooding of the lower compartments of shaft alley and C Deck.
As she sinks slowly down into the water, the sea will begin to enter the larger openings. She will then go down much more quickly, resting on the bottom in an upright position in about half an hour. She will be anchored at the bow with a single anchor, and as she goes down a tug will hold her steady from the stern. As she settles to the bottom in 135 of water, her trimmed stack, kingposts and masts will lie 50 feet below the surface. She will then wait for her new marine tenants and the thousands of divers who will stop by to visit.
Project Update April 4, 2007
We are now in the home stretch of the Texas Clipper Ship Project. The contractors will be working on several key aspects of the environmental remediation and hull preparations in the next two to three weeks. We will be coordinating a review of the work to date with the U.S. EPA to facilitate their review and approval of the project. Plans are being made to ensure documentation and media access to the sinking event.
The new target date for completion of the cleaning and modification of the ship is April 20. The most pressing task to be completed is the removal of a coating present on many of the walls and ceilings that contains PCBs. The plan is to accomplish this by applying a solvent on these areas and wiping the coating off with cloth, followed by a water rinse if necessary. Project accomplishments to date include: Removal of Hazardous Wastes (22,000 lbs of PCB containing materials, including air duct gaskets and wiring, 1550 cubic yards of asbestos-containing materials, including ceiling and floor tiles, and 360,000 gallons of hydrocarbons, including fuels and oils), removal of 25,000 gallons of non-hazardous waste water and removal of 210,000 lbs of solid waste and debris. Approximately 700 tons of metal and debris have been removed from the vessel in the course of making hull modifications to ensure diver safety and access to portions of the interior of the ship. Following completion of the cleanup and modifications by the contractor, the ship will remain in the Brownsville harbor awaiting approval by the U.S. EPA for her to be reefed.
We now plan to reef the USTS Texas Clipper in mid May. As the sinking date approaches, we will update this web site with a more exact prediction of the window of dates we expect to tow her into the Gulf and reef her. Of course the actual sinking will ultimately be contingent upon fair weather conditions. The sinking plan calls for a controlled flooding process. No explosives will be used in the sinking. Large openings along her side above the waterline have been cut to allow seawater to flow into her. These have been tack welded closed and are to be opened at sea once she is in position above her reef location. A series of special valves have been installed and they will be opened by the contractor to allow flooding of the lower compartments of shaft alley and C Deck. As she sinks slowly down into the water, the sea will begin to enter the larger openings. She will then go down much more quickly, resting on the bottom in an upright position in about half an hour. She will be anchored at the bow with a single anchor, and as she goes down a tug will hold her steady from the stern. As she settles to the bottom in 135 of water, her trimmed stack, kingposts and masts will lie 50 feet below the surface. She will then wait for her new marine tenants and the thousands of divers who will stop by to visit.
See latest Clipper Ship photos
Project Update March 6, 2007
There are three phases remaining in the Texas Clipper Reefing Project. Phase One is the work that is currently underway to remove debris, save unique items, remove hazardous wastes, modify the hull structure and superstructure in preparation for sinking and prepare the ship for safe diving. Phase Two will involve approval of the cleanup of the ship by authorities including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and U.S. Coast Guard to make sure that it will not pose a threat to the marine environment and that it will safely move from its harbor in the Port of Brownsville to the final Texas Clipper Reef site. Phase Three will involve towing her to the reef site, making preparations for sinking, anchoring her in place and sinking her to the bottom.
Phase One continues with the removal of debris including furniture, trash, and basically anything else that was not salvageable. Overall, 990 cubic yards of debris has been removed from the ship. This debris weighed over 200,000 pounds. The removal of hazardous wastes such as asbestos and Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) has been progressing as the contractor has moved methodically from deck to deck. Asbestos was generally used for insulation and sound dampening in the construction of ships of the Texas Clipper era. PCBs are found in electrical system components, gaskets, and air handling systems. Approximately 22,000 pounds of PCB containing material (20,000 lbs of cable and wiring and 2,000 lbs of insulation) have been removed to date. This accounts for 17% of the estimated quantity of these materials. A total of 730 cubic yards of asbestos containing materials (28% of the estimate) has been removed. Asbestos removal has been completed on the upper decks, the engine room, and the A-deck. Current work is focusing on the B-deck. The final work will be on C-deck. About 360,000 gallons of hydrocarbons, including fuels and oils, were removed before the ship traveled from Beaumont. Some residual amounts of fuels remain in the tanks which will be steam cleaned before reefing.
Modifications to make the ship safe for sport diving continue to be made. These include cutting off of sharp edges, removal of overhead obstructions, enlargement of some hatches between passageways and closing of some sections of the ship. Structural modifications for sinking include reducing the height of the ship to allow adequate clearance above her once she is sunk and strategic placement of new openings that will allow water to flow into and through the ship. The funnel or stack has been cut down to within four feet of the upper deck. All masts have been cut down to a level that allows us to meet the 50 feet clearance requirement. These will be reset on the main deck and welded in place before reefing.
Phase One is progressing on target, with a completion date of March 31, 2007 likely. Some wet weather in January slowed progress due to slippery hull conditions, but caused no work stoppages.
Phase Two will include required inspections to make sure the ship has been prepared properly to prevent hazardous materials from entering the marine environment. The U.S. EPA will review the documentation of removal of materials and inspect the ship to be sure no materials remain on board. This inspection process will likely take several weeks. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will review the final sinking plan to make sure the process of sinking the ship will not harm sea turtles or marine mammals. We will not be using explosives as have been used in some other cases but will instead use a controlled flooding of the various chambers within the ship to slowly lower her into the water column. If all goes well with the review and inspections, the required authorization for reefing should be obtained by mid-April.
Phase Three will involve towing the ship to the reefing site, preparing her for sinking and flooding her with seawater to complete the reefing process. She should be towed to the site on one day, prepared and sunk the next. A safety perimeter will be maintained by the U. S. Coast Guard during the sinking process. Only contractor and authorized agency vessels will be allowed within the perimeter until an all clear is sounded. This will allow inspection of the ship, attachment of buoys and adequate time to make sure the area is safe for public visitation. There will be a minimum of 48 hours from the time of sinking before the public is allowed to be in the area above the Texas Clipper. Diving by the public will be allowed only after the all clear is given.
As of December 21, 2006
The Texas Clipper has been a beehive of activity for the past six weeks at her temporary home in the Port of Brownsville. She was towed from her most recent home of ten years, the MARAD fleet in Beaumont, TX, to Brownsville on November 3 and arrived there on November 6 shortly after noon. Soon after arrival she was stabilized; her holds were certified as gas-free and hazardous materials surveys were conducted. Clearing these hurdles, official remediation work began. Approximately 510 cubic yards of debris has been removed and unique items to be saved have been tagged. Some of these unique items have been removed from the ship and will be stored for future disposition. Asbestos crews began securing upper deck areas and preparing spaces for asbestos removal. A total of 180 cubic yards of asbestos was removed in November and stored on site. It has not yet been transported to a disposal facility.
Work on debris, asbestos and PCB removals will continue. TPWD staff and all contractors will meet in mid January to review project status and make plans for reefing the ship in the next few months. A date for the sinking of the Texas Clipper as an artificial has not yet been set, so if you are interested in viewing the sinking or attending a ceremony we are planning, check back in mid to late January for an update. We hope to have dates set at that time, although we all know that dates for offshore work, particularly in the spring, are weather dependent. With no major delays in the project, a sinking date in late March or early April is likely.
As of November 3, 2006
Work on the Texas Clipper has been progressing for the past few weeks, strengthening the hull for the trip down to Brownsville. Now the hull must be cleaned to prevent the transfer of any biological organisms from the Sabine-Neches estuary to the Lower Laguna Madre. It will be scraped clean of her beard of algae, barnacles and other encrusting organisms. Preparations for towing her have been underway, ensuring proper ballast and appropriate tug attachment. Final plans are being made and appropriate reports are being filed. We anticipate that she will depart Beaumont within the week, but that is dependent on the timing of the work to make her ready and a cooperative weather pattern.
A Farewell to the Clipper is being planned for her departure from the Golden Triangle. Texas A&M University at Galveston will be contacting former students who served on her and other individuals who were part of her maritime heritage. Anyone interested may view her as she is towed past Port Arthur Waterfront Park, on Lakeview Drive in downtown Port Arthur. We will post details of this celebration as they develop. There will certainly be a reefing ceremony next spring as she is towed out of Brownsville to the Texas Clipper Reef Site, but the Golden Triangle Farewell will be an opportunity for those who wish to see her off once again, especially if they do not plan to be in South Texas for the reefing.
The Texas Clipper will depart its mooring below Beaumont Friday morning, November 3, 2006, at about 8:00 am and head down the Neches River and Sabine-Neches ship channel toward Sabine Pass. There she will enter the Gulf of Mexico and travel south to Pass Santiago, where she will berth at the Esco Marine Facilities in Brownsville for cleaning and reefing preparations. Her departure will be celebrated by supporters in the Golden Triangle area. Many who sailed on her and were involved in her maritime heritage will gather at the Port Arthur waterfront city park behind City Hall on Lakeshore Drive between Dallas and Waco Avenues. Texas A&M University at Galveston will set up a tent and have Aggieland music playing for her farewell. Anyone is welcome to bid her farewell. Bring lawn chairs, a snack or sack lunch, mosquito spray and a camera. She may pass the site as early as 9:00 am, but that depends on departure time and travel time down the channel. TAMUG staff at the site will know her estimated time of arrival once you get there. If you want to catch a first glimpse of her under tow, be at the Port Neches Park (on Lee Street) shortly after 7:00 am, as she will depart from about four miles upstream of there as early as 7:00 am.
As of October 11, 2006
The Texas Artificial Reef Program has worked relentlessly with the US Maritime Administration (MARAD) for over ten years to secure title to the Texas Clipper, a former WWII troop transport ship, cruise liner and training vessel for the Texas A&M University Maritime Academy. We are very pleased to announce that as of today, the Texas Clipper project is officially underway. A Notice-to-Proceed has been issued to Resolve Marine Services, Inc. (Port Everglades, FL) to begin towing preparations to move her from the MARAD Reserve Fleet in Beaumont, TX to Brownsville, TX for final preparations in becoming the first major addition to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Ships-to-Reefs program in over 30 years.
After months of negotiations, the transfer of the title from MARAD to the State of Texas is in place and a contract for hazardous materials remediation and hull modifications has been awarded. Resolve Marine Services, Inc. will work with ESCO Marine (Brownsville, TX) in preparing the ship for reefing, a process that could take four to six months to complete. Towing will begin soon and the Texas Clipper will move slowly and deliberately out of Sabine Pass, through the Gulf of Mexico and into Pass Santiago. She will be moored at ESCO Marine's facility in Brownsville, cleaned of all environmental hazards and structurally modified to promote safe diving. In early 2007, she will be towed to a permitted reef site 17 nautical miles off the southern coast of Texas near South Padre Island to become an artificial reef. We will post updates to this project as it moves forward.
As of July 7, 2006
News in May that the Texas Clipper had sunk in the Beaumont harbor had raised serious questions of whether the ship would become an artificial reef or be scrapped by MARAD. Diligence by many parties and broad support for the reefing project, including the office of the Texas Governor, has resulted in resolution of most of the problems.
Her hull has been patched; she is floating and waiting for contracts and final negotiations to be completed so that the next steps can be taken. Infrastructure Division staff at TPWD are taking the lead in final contract negotiations with the joint venture firm (Resolve and ESCO Marine, Inc.) that will tow the Clipper to Brownsville and ready her for reefing. MARAD has made arrangements to remove liquid fuels and oils from her before she is moved to Brownsville. New Coast Guard regulations will require the hull to be cleaned prior to towing. This is not expected to be completed until August 10.
We now have EPA approval for our cleanup plan for the ship. They will do a final inspection and approval before she can depart Brownsville or Port Isabel for final reefing. We have received a draft certificate of transfer of the ship from MARAD and it is under review. MARAD has formally committed to reimburse TPWD $1.5 million for the towing and environmental remediation of the ship.
The new projected timeline for reefing of the Texas Clipper is late December 2006 at the earliest, but most likely will be in early 2007.
As of June 12, 2006
Recent news that the Texas Clipper sunk in the Beaumont harbor has raised serious questions of whether the ship will become an artificial reef or be scrapped by MARAD. We are awaiting their decisions as to her fate. Stay tuned for up to date information.
TPWD has finalized price negotiations with a joint venture firm to environmentally clean and sink the Texas Clipper. An updated application for transfer of title to the ship has been submitted to the U.S. Maritime Administration. The U.S. EPA is currently reviewing the TPWD Polychlorinated Biphenyl (PCB) removal and cleanup plan.
