The Ana Cecilia, a 170-foot cargo ship, once ferried cocaine from Haiti to Miami. Now, it rests at the bottom of the ocean about a mile off the coast of Singer Island in Palm Beach County. It will serve as an artificial reef, diving attraction and underwater memorial.
A crew unplugged eight portholes about 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, allowing seawater to fill the vessel. It took about 15 minutes for the Ana Cecilia to sink to the bottom 85 feet below. When it disappeared into the blue water, cheers erupted from dozens of boaters who circled to watch it sink.
“It gives me great pleasure knowing that a cargo ship once used to smuggle illicit drugs into our country is now being turned into an artificial reef here in Florida,” said Diane Sabatino, director of field operations for Miami and Tampa for U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Built in 1972, the ship made international headlines in 2012 when it completed the first humanitarian voyage from Miami to Havana in more than 50 years. It also serviced oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico.
In September 2015, federal agents found 386 bricks of cocaine worth more than $10 million aboard the ship. The boat’s captain pleaded guilty to cocaine possession and was sentenced to nine years in prison.
Customs and Border Protection donated the ship to Palm Beach County. It cost the county $110,000 to clean and sink the boat. The county affixed plaques to the ship’s wheelhouse to honor several boaters lost at sea.
Plaques honored Tequesta teens Austin Stephanos and Perry Cohen. The 14-year-old boys never returned from a fishing trip in July 2015. Another plaque honored Palm Beach County Sheriff’s corrections officer Fernandes Jones, his stepfather Willis Bell and his 9-year-old son Jaden Jones. The three perished in April when their boat took on water near Stuart.
Artificial reefs have been created in Palm Beach County since the 1960s, according to county officials. To date, 51 ships have been sunk, along with 127,000 tons of limestone boulders and 72,000 tons of concrete.
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Source: Orlando Sentinel
