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SS United States reef project opens a decade-long marine study

Guardian News's deployment coverage adds a scientific question to the liner's farewell: how does marine life colonise a newly submerged ship?

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Guardian News Story of November 12, 2026Trari Newsroom

Why this story? One of Guardian News's most watched videos since yesterday, with 88,499 views.

Giant ocean liner sunk to become the world’s largest artificial reef - watch live

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6:33Jennifer Adams describes the project's origins, environmental preparations and expected role in local diving tourism.
14:24Kirstin Meyer-Kaiser outlines a decade-long study of marine colonisation and dispersal through the Gulf Loop Current.
19:33Divers Alert Network's Cliff Richardson introduces safety planning for divers visiting the new reef.
31:35Contractor Tim Mullane explains the liner's construction and the preparations needed to sink it.
32:48Commissioner Trey Goodwin confirms plans for a land-based museum featuring salvaged ship artefacts.
55:45Sparks and smoke appear as crews begin cutting or breaching work along the hull ports.

Marine biologist Kirstin Meyer-Kaiser sees the SS United States as a chance to watch an underwater community begin. In Guardian News's coverage of the liner's planned sinking off Florida, she outlines a ten-year research project to follow the species that settle on the wreck.

"This is the prime opportunity to study formation of a marine community from scratch," says Meyer-Kaiser, of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. The work will also investigate how the Gulf Loop Current helps disperse marine life.

That research adds another dimension to the ship's transformation, beyond the passenger memories and preparations featured in other coverage of its farewell. Guardian News carries a locally hosted broadcast, with Destin-Fort Walton Beach tourism director Jennifer Adams introducing what organisers describe as the world's largest artificial reef project.

Drone footage shows the stripped liner offshore, surrounded by support vessels and spectator boats. Later, close views reveal deck cutouts and openings prepared for scuttling; sparks and smoke appear as crews work along the hull ports.

The broadcast drew about 88,000 views. Alongside the offshore preparations, Okaloosa County commissioner Trey Goodwin describes plans for a land-based museum displaying salvaged artefacts. Some material has already found another use: former commissioner Mel Ponder explains how scrap metal from the liner was recycled into souvenir challenge coins at Northwest Florida State College.