Plans in works to create reef with sunken warship in eastern Ontario

The Eastern Ontario Artificial Reef Association says it hopes to sink the decommissioned destroyer escort HMCS Terra Nova by late 2009. The proposed site is in the Thousand Islands region near Gananoque, Ont., east of Kingston, and will be revealed Friday.

The association says a reef created by the sunken ship will attract some 10,000 recreational scuba divers to the region in the first year.

It also says sinking the 113-metre warship will relieve pressure on historic wooden wrecks in the area that are quickly deteriorating.

HMCS Terra Nova was built in 1956 and served during the Cold War as an anti-submarine warfare vessel that shadowed numerous Soviet subs patrolling the North American eastern seaboard.

Other Canadian warships have been scuttled in the past to serve as artificial reefs, including the destroyer escorts HMCS Chaudiere and HMCS Mackenzie, which now lie in British Columbia's Georgia Strait, and HMCS Saguenay, which now rests in Nova Scotia's Lunenberg Marine Park.

The destroyer HMCS Yukon was scuttled near San Diego in 2000 and drew 22,000 divers in its first year.

As well as drawing tourists, the artificial reefs also serve as habitat for fish and other aquatic life.

Source: THE CANADIAN PRESS