The Okaloosa Board of County Commissioners unanimously approved contracts totaling $820,000 on Tuesday to purchase and deploy two vessels as artificial reefs in the Gulf of Mexico off the Destin-Fort Walton Beach coast.
- The board approved single-source contracts with Tri-Native Contractors for $250,000 for the MV BELLE REYNOLDS and $450,000 for the MV HENRY ALEX. An additional $60,000 per vessel will cover deployment costs.
“Both of these vessels are actually priced below what we normally pay for similar sized vessels,” said Alex Fogg, Okaloosa Natural Resources Chief, during the meeting.
The MV BELLE REYNOLDS is a 156-foot custom vessel with multiple decks that was originally being converted to a hunting or fishing camp in the Louisiana bayou before that project was abandoned about 10 years ago.
- The MV HENRY ALEX is a 224-foot offshore supply vessel similar to the Deep STIM III that the county deployed two years ago as part of a tri-county project.
Both vessels are currently located in Louisiana, but Fogg joked that “neither of them will be going underneath the Destin Bridge,” a reference to last week’s brief hiccup at the Marler Bridge where the NEKTON RORQUAL was pulled sideways causing it to get stuck under the bridge.
The purchases are part of the county’s five-year artificial reef plan that was passed five years ago, designed to expand fish habitat and create destinations for diving and fishing. Fogg said the county has become “the leader in artificial reef construction in the state, if not the country.”
When Commissioner Carolyn Ketchel asked about the county’s capacity for reef deployment, Fogg explained that storms damage existing reefs over time, requiring continued renewal of the resource.
The county has worked with Tri-Native Contractors on four previous large deployments. Since 2020, twenty vessels have been deployed, with three more scheduled for deployment by December 2025.
When Chairman Paul Mixon asked about possibilities of other people or organizations paying for the vessels, Fogg said there’s a possibility the U.S. military could purchase either vessel for offshore exercises, which would reimburse the county’s full investment. Four similar vessels have previously been purchased by the military from the county for use as artificial reefs after exercises.
