Meet the people who gave the Spirit of Norfolk new life underwater, after the fire

The Spirit of Norfolk, taken out of service in the summer of 2022 after a fire broke out on board, will now have a second life. And people can now catch a glimpse of the ship, more than 100 feet underwater.

The Spirit of Norfolk saw decades full of cruising, creating memories for those who climbed aboard. After the fire, it sat vacant, until Tim Mullane of Coleen Marine Inc. purchased it and It was transformed into an artificial reef off the coast of Florida.

Coleen Marine Inc., a company that tows, salvages, and works to create artificial reefs from old ships, sought to give the Spirit of Norfolk new life.

"The number one artificial reef maker that no one's heard of," said Mullane.

Mullane calls his work the equivalent of a funeral home director.

The Spirit of Norfolk was declared a $5 million total loss following the fire, adding that the cleaning process was "no joke" to prepare it for sinking.

"The Spirit of Norfolk was a mess, it was bad. It had installations hanging out of the overhead, hanging out the walls. It was a post-fire mess, from top to bottom," said Mullane.

Once the ship was presented through a sale involving the U.S. military, it fell into the hands of Destin-Fort Walton Beach in Florida. Their Natural Resources Chief, Alex Fogg, said it was sunk in late June to create an artificial reef.

It joins a fleet of roughly 15 large vessels on the floor of the Gulf. The material is perfect, Fogg said, to create a thriving ecosystem.

"It allows organisms to attach to it, so your sponges, your barnacles, and other organisms. That provides additional habitat for smaller critters, then bigger critters, then bigger and bigger, so you end up with a fully functioning ecosystem after a couple of years," said Fogg.

The Spirit of Norfolk serves a dual purpose: a brand new habitat to form ecosystems, but it is also an underwater museum.

Fogg said each ship chosen has a story worth visiting.

Some divers, including Chris Howard, who had taken a dive to the Spirit of Norfolk with the help of the Shark Quest Dive Shop, said it was neat to see the ship underwater.

"Also, it attracts a lot of people to the destination to go diving. So it became a tourist attraction as well. Kind of win-win for everything involved, from the environment to the people," said Fogg.

For Mullane," he said, "The Spirit of Norfolk was important to the millions who cruised on it, and he's proud to give it a new home, underwater.

"The paintings and everything that's historical are a little more important. Instead of just chopping it up into little pieces, it can go into a second life like this," said Mullane.

Fogg said anyone visiting who wants to see the Spirit of Norfolk can do so. There are several dive companies in Florida that will take you there.

He said they are close to acquiring SS United States as well, which also has ties to Newport News.

Fogg said each ship they sank could support an ecosystem for more than 200 years.

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Korea selected to host UNESCO's World Heritage Committee for the first time

Delegates at the 47th session of the World Heritage Committee at Unesco headquarters in Paris adopt Decision 15, confirming Busan as the host city for the 48th session in 2026, on July 15. [NEWS1]

Korea has been selected as the hosting country for the upcoming UNESCO World Heritage Committee, marking the first time the country will host the annual meeting since the committee's inception in 1977.

Some 3,000 participants, including delegations from 196 signatory states, the UNESCO director-general, academic experts and representatives from non-governmental organizations, will be gathering in Korea's port city Busan, in July 2026 for the 48th session of the committee.

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The committee announced the decision on Tuesday at UNESCO headquarters in Paris. Busan had already been selected as Korea's candidate through a domestic bidding process.

The World Heritage Committee, established under the 1972 Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, serves as the convention's top decision-making body.

It meets annually to add sites deemed to have outstanding universal value to the World Heritage list and to discuss measures for their preservation.

Only the 21 committee member states may host the meeting. Korea secured its fourth term on the committee last November, which runs through 2027, paving the way to hold the event. It will be the first time Korea hosts the session since joining the convention in 1988.

Choi Eung-chon, head of the Korea Heritage Service, center, and the Korean delegation applaud after Korea is confirmed as the next host of the World Heritage Committee at the 47th session at Unesco headquarters in Paris on July 15. [YONHAP]

Asia has previously hosted several times, with Japan in 1998, China twice in 2004 and 2021, India in 2024, and Qatar and Saudi Arabia representing West Asia in 2014 and 2023, respectively. Korea will become the eighth Asian country to host the meeting.

This year holds special meaning for us as it marks the 30th anniversary of the inscription of Korea's first World Heritage site," said Choi Eung-chon, head of the Korea Heritage Service, in Korea's acceptance speech. "Korea regards the upcoming session of the World Heritage Committee in Busan as a truly meaningful moment to reaffirm the shared responsibility of all humanity for the protection of our common heritage. We are fully committed to ensuring that the next session is organized in an efficient and well-coordinated manner.

Korea currently has 17 UNESCO World Heritage sites, including 15 cultural sites and two natural sites. It started with the inscription of Seokguram Grotto and Bulguksa Temple, Haeinsa Janggyeong Panjeon and Jongmyo Shrine in 1995. The latest addition is the Petroglyphs along the Bangucheon Stream.

Meanwhile, Choi's term ends at midnight on Tuesday. He took office on May 13, 2022. Paleontologist Huh Min, a professor of geology at Chonnam National University, has been nominated to succeed him. This marks the first time a paleontologist has been appointed to lead the agency since it was reorganized from the Cultural Heritage Administration into the Korea Heritage Service last year.

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.

BY KANG HYE-RAN [kim.juyeon2@joongang.co.kr]

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