"Last Port of Call"

Hundreds of high school, middle school and college students gathered at the University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College to enjoy a rare treat. On Thursday they were the first audience to view a new documentary on the sinking of the Texas Clipper.

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department developed the documentary, which is in two segments.

The documentary's first segment, titled "Last Port of Call," details the history of the ever-evolving vessel. The second, "An Ocean Oasis," documents its use as an artificial reef.

After originating as the USS Queens, the 1944 ship transported soldiers fighting in World War II. Next, as the USS Excambion, it was redesigned as a luxury cruise ship. As the Excambion, it was converted to an opulent vessel to transport the wealthy around the world.

Then, as the Texas Clipper, the ship was used as a training vessel for the Texas Maritime Academy, Texas A&M University at Galveston.

The documentary details the ship's last incarnation: an artificial reef at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico, 17 nautical miles off the coast of South Padre Island.

The sinking of the Clipper was no small feat. First, crews had to clean out 700 tons of metal, 210,000 pounds of debris, and 72,250 pounds of polychlorinated biphenyl, or PCBs. Next they had to haul the monstrous ship through choppy waters out to its sinking site. Finally, they watched the ship sink at a snail's pace. Observers endured two hours of stomach-churning waves, four times the length that was anticipated.

The second segment, "An Ocean Oasis," focuses on the ship's current state. It also details one contentious aspect of the Clipper's relative success. After ten years of planning, the Clipper unintentionally sank on its side.

"I was disappointed," said J. Dale Shively, the Artificial Reef Program coordinator for Texas Parks and Wildlife.

Though the Clipper remains an attractive fishing and diving spot, where divers can explore the explosive underwater world that's been created on the ship's "living skin," officials say it would have been more successful had it landed upright, as they had hoped.

"We'd like to pull the ship upright," Shively said, "but this 10-year endeavor was a $4 million project. Just to pull it over would cost five to six million."

Shively said that Texas Parks and Wildlife submitted a proposal two weeks ago to the U.S. Navy's Office of Community Service to see if the Navy might endeavor to undertake the project as a training exercise.

So why is it so important to lift the hulking vessel into an upright position?

First, if the ship were upright, more of it would be in a part of the water where's there's more light. There, both deep-water fish and mid-depth fish could make the ship their home.

Second, the ship was designed as a tourist attraction for divers. There would be more places to explore and openings to access if the ship were in its planned position.

For now, the ship is still a great benefit to UTB-TSC's Department of Biological Sciences. Students use the ship to study aquatic life, as well as the evolution of the artificial reef over time, David Hicks, a professor at UTB-TSC, said.

"Because we got involved in this program, it's allowing us to develop a research-diving program," said Hicks. "We're hoping this is the first of many offshore research projects for our faculty and students. "

UTB-TSC President Juliet Garcia also spoke to the students gathered at Thursday's premiere.

"The trees we plant on campus and the Texas Clippers we sink are not for us," Garcia said. "They're for you, the next generation, to nurture and develop on your own."

The documentary is scheduled to air March 22 on PBS.