After searching for the perfect ship for nearly a decade, city leaders in Pompano, Beach, Florida found it in the Lady Luck. However, they weren’t looking to ride it, they wanted to create an artificial reef on the ocean floor – so they sank her.
This was no small effort. Both the city and the Isle Casino put $312,000 into sinking the 324-foot sludge tanker. They sank it in hopes to draw in sea life, hoping divers and their money would follow.
The sinking wasn’t a rushed event. The boat sank slowly through engineers slowly pumping water inside.
“This is a lot more gradual, thoughtful,” said Rob Wyre, regional vice president of operations and general manager of the Isle Casino. “This investment is too great to not buy the best when it came to sinking.”
Lady Luck ended up taking longer to sink than initially estimated, but she finally went down. Her final exit was a happy occasion for some and bittersweet for her formor crew memebers in attendance.
“She was a great ship,” said Jon Bailey, a shiphand. “I spent a quarter of my life working on her. She never let us down. But I’m glad this is how she’s going, instead of to China for scrap metal.”
