Galveston historical wreck

[Sushi Boy]

For the archeology & history types:

Chron.com story: Ike may have uncovered Carolina. Wreck could be merchant ship that sank off Galveston during Civil War

Sounds like the dive would be a lot like our Caney Creek paddlewheeler dive a couple of years ago.

 

[ivan_abz]

better diving

following the link and browswing, I came across this story, which I find more exciting :
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/metro/6300376.html
the ensco74 is a jack up drilling-rig that went missing during ike
apparently its in 115' feet of water and 65 miles south of galvaston
can we dive it ?

 

[StackMaster]

That would be a cool dive

 

[ivan_abz]

I was half serious

what would stop recreational divers diving the rig ?
as it poses a hazard to shipping I would have thought the location was available to boat captains.
its not that far of a run from freeport
its not even that deep
its far enough out to be in blue water for good vis ?

can anyone with some maritime knowledge (wookie?) shed some light ?
would the coastguard prohibit diving it ?
would the location be kept secret ?

 

[Smoochy]

well it looks like they are going to mark it with a buoy, so we could always start looking for new ones to pop up

I would think that this would have to be information available to all captains, no?

 

[EasyDiver]

if the coast guard puts a bouy on it then it will be printed in the coast report thingie, (sorry beer has made my memory mushy). they are like that, those coasties.

 

[Captain HardHead]

Local Notice to Mariners - Looked in the latest publication (week 09/09) and did not find it yet.

 

[Captain Randy]

Ensco 74

The ENSCO 74 is at 28 34 55.8 N 93 43 45.6 W

There is no reason it couldn't be dove but it will likely be a pretty torn up wreck.
Pre Ike this rig was at SMI149 which is about 125 miles from where it ended up.

Randy