‘Options’ considered to right tilted Texas Clipper

As many feared, the Texas Clipper is resting on its left side on the Gulf of Mexico’s sandy floor.

The old war ship and training vessel was submerged last week some 17 miles off the coast of South Padre Island. As it was ceremoniously sunk, turbulent waters shifted the ship to its side and that’s how it landed, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department officials said.

“It’s on its side,” Tim O’Leary of the island’s American Diving confirmed.

“For us, it doesn’t matter, but I don’t suspect it’s going to stay that way,” O’Leary said. “At the end, it was Mother Nature.”

It was hoped the Clipper, now an artificial reef, would serve as an underwater attraction for divers. A lopsided ship might be less of a draw for the millions in tourist dollars area vendors were hoping to get from the anticipated traffic.

“We are aware that things did not go according to plan,” TPWD spokesman Tom Harvey said this week.

“The next step is to assess the options to correct the problems,” Harvey said. “There is a possibility that the contractor (hired to sink the vessel) might be engaged in some way to fix this situation.”

Recreational diving began Monday with a group from Houston.

The Clipper was in service for more than 60 years.

It was built in 1944 and deployed during World War II. It was decommissioned in 1946 after assisting in the American occupation of Sasebo, Japan. It later became part of American Export Lines as a cruise liner. In its last occupation, it was, used as part of the Texas Maritime Training Academy program at Texas A&M University at Galveston.

The ship was delivered to Esco Marine at the Port of Brownsville in 2006. In a joint venture with Resolve Marine Group of Florida, it was dismantled and prepared for the reef program.

TPWD spokesman Aaron Reed said Wednesday that Artificial Reef Program staff is looking at its positioning. Reed said staff has conducted some dives and findings are under review to develop a game plan, “to get her in the position that we want her in.”

According to TPWD’s Web site, staff in the Artificial Reef Program will gather data on the Clipper’s exact location and orientation on the gulf floor, and provide a detailed report.

According to the state agency, the vessel was prepared and modified for diver safety, nautical safety and scientific study. Hull modifications were made to insure it would meet depth clearance.

Diver-safe modifications also were made to allow limited penetration of the ship by scuba divers and large holes, 96 inches by 60 inches were made in the side of the ship to allow for water circulation.

The ship’s upper decks were made diver-safe with doors/hatches sealed shut or welded open and diver “guidelines” were installed between masts, which were cut to lie 50 feet below the surface when reefed.

“What the state wanted was a place that even the most novice diver could enjoy,” O’Leary said. “This is not a novice dive. I would not take a beginner, especially on a reef this big and huge.”

He said the sunken ship’s positioning affects the type of penetration that divers do. “It’s a lot of cave diving,” as opposed to open diving.”

“The State of Texas and the contractors are very disappointed and I think that they will likely move in the direction of doing something about it and it will be very, very, fast,” he said, “because once it begins to silt in, you won’t be able to right her.”

The 473-foot vessel is massive. “She’s huge. Life is already there,” O’Leary said, noting that a school of fish was seen coming through the vessel.

“It didn’t take long to do what it is intended to.”