The decommissioned 224’ offshore supply vessel Henry Alex is slated as a next addition to Florida’s Gulf artificial reefs by Okaloosa County and Panama City Beach officials.
The project is projected to cost $450,000 to purchase, prepare and transport the vessel, to be split equally between Okaloosa County and the Panama City Beach Convention & Visitors Bureau, with each organization contributing $225,000.
The Coastal Conservation Association (CCA) Florida, a longtime partner in regional marine conservation and artificial reef development, will provide an additional $60,000 to cover towing and deployment expenses.
“Beyond supporting numerous artificial reef deployments, CCA has partnered with the County on invasive lionfish removal efforts, habitat restoration projects, redfish release initiatives and the ongoing SS United States artificial reef project,” Okaloosa County officials said.
The planned fall 2026 Henry Alex deployment would be the 49th in Okaloosa’s large vessel reefs since the 1970s, and one of 600 reefs across the region that provide fish habitat and recreational use.
The partners say all funding is provided through tourism development tax revenue and partner contributions. The Henry Alex will be emplaced on the Sposit Reef, to be named by CCA in memory of the late Rebecca Sposit, who served as human resources director at the CCA National office.
The proposed deployment site is 30° 05.831'N, -86° 17.749'W, at approximately 120’ deep, 22 nautical miles from the Destin East Pass and 28 nautical miles from the Panama City Pass. The official reef chart name will be the “Sposit” Reef.
Okaloosa County has 48 large vessels in the Gulf that have been deployed since the 1970s, which are a part of nearly 600 existing artificial reefs in the Gulf. The reef project partners maintain a copyrighted image 3D imaging library of the existing large-vessel reefs online at https://www.destinfwb.com/.../artificial-reefs/3d-models/
