Sinking Ship Contains Hidden Gem

November 15, 2007 5:15 AM

Having served as a troop transport in WWII, a luxury liner, and a sea cadet training vessel, the Texas Clipper will come to her final resting place tomorrow as part of an artificial reef in the Texas Gulf. During preparations for sinking, a long lost mural (1 2 3 4) by Saul Steinberg, best known for his work at The New Yorker, was rediscovered hidden behind wallpaper and paint and saved from a watery grave.
posted by Orb (4 comments total)

I was under the impression that many of the artificial reefs made in the past turned out to be ecological mini-disasters?
posted by absalom at 5:41 AM on November 15, 2007

I wonder if its less expensive to sink it versus cutting it into scrap.

When I throw a beer can into the water its 'pollution,' when the Grand Old State of Texas does it, its a celebrated ecological event. Its not just this, the Rigs to Reefs program is even better! We wouldn't want these oil companies to actually have to dent their profits by actually cleaning up their own mess.

I'm not sure about the actual efficacy of this artificial reef thing, but it sure does save some coin for our friends in Texas.
posted by sfts2 at 5:56 AM on November 15, 2007

The ones made out of tires have been huge disasters, and likely some of the early sunken ships that weren't cleaned well enough caused some issues too, but this project in Texas seems to be taking it's time to make sure the ships (and oil rigs) are thoroughly prepared before repurposing. Which isn't to say they may not cause other environmental issues.

Also, at least 50% of the money the oil companies would have spent salvaging their rigs are donated to the program (making the artificial reef program completely self-sufficient), so it isn't like it's actually saving the oil companies that much cash and might really be a good thing.
posted by Orb at 6:23 AM on November 15, 2007

Pretty neat. But at first, skimming your post, I thought it said that Saul Steinberg himself was rediscovered hidden behind wallpaper. Now that would have been worth a sidebar mention.
posted by languagehat at 6:26 AM on November 15, 2007 [1 favorite]