Naming Rights To Florida Reef Up For Auction

KEY WEST, Fla. -- Call it an opportunity for some below-sea-level recognition.

An online auction began Wednesday for naming rights to an artificial reef project organizers hope to establish off the Florida Keys.

The reef is to be created by sinking the retired 524-foot U.S. Air Force missile-tracking ship General Hoyt S. Vandenberg, which monitored NASA space launches from 1963 to 1983.

Since 1984, the ship has been among other decommissioned vessels at the James River Naval Reserve Fleet in Virginia's James River.

The so-called Ghost Fleet is being thinned because of environmental concerns.

Bidding on the online auction site eBay Inc. begins at $900,000, with a reserve price of $1.3 million, said Joe Weatherby, a project organizer with Artificial Reefs of the Keys.

It's the last piece of a funding puzzle required for the $5.7 million project. ARK has already gathered $3 million, but needs to come up with remaining funds to avoid losing the ship to scrapyard.

"This is for someone who is looking for a legacy," Weatherby said. "It's something for an individual or a company that is permanent and positive for the environment."

Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved