Another vessel joins Delaware’s artificial reef system

DOVER, Del. (AP) — A boat formerly used as a floating casino was recently sunk to the ocean floor off the coast of Delaware to become part of the state’s artificial reef program.

A Norfolk, Virginia-based marine contractor handled the sinking of the 180-foot-long Texas Star, the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control said in a news release Thursday.

“With today’s sinking of the Texas Star on Redbird Reef, one of 14 separate reef sites in the Delaware Bay and along the Atlantic Coast, we continue to enhance and expand the recreational fishing and diving experience in Delaware,” Shawn Garvin, the department’s secretary, said in a statement.

The ship built in 1977 was converted from a casino to a commercial scallop catcher and processor and now has found its “third life” as part of the artificial reef, the department said.

Also residing on Delaware’s artificial reefs is the longest ship ever reefed on the East Coast, the former destroyer USS Arthur W. Radford, the department said. The reefs are also home to more than 1,350 retired New York City subway cars that have helped comprise the reef system over the last two decades, according to the news release.