A team of scientists and engineers breached and then sank a retired ocean freighter yesterday, adding it to an artificial reef for sea creatures in the Gulf of Mexico. The final resting place of the 155-foot Kinta S lies roughly 11 miles from Port Aransas, Texas and 10.5 miles from Corpus Christi.

The effort is part of Texas Parks and Wildlife Department's artificial reef program. The hollowed out hull was sunk with the financial help of nonprofit group Saltwater-fisheries Enhancement Association, in addition to funding from government grants and donations from corporate sponsors. The program includes the cooperation of scientists with the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies and the University of Texas Marine Science Institute.

"The Kinta S was just a rusty, outdated cargo vessel with no historical significance, but now she will live on as underwater habitat for marine life and an interesting destination for scuba divers," Dale Shively, director of the TPWD artificial reef program, said in a press release.

After an hour-long tow the stern of the formerly Panama-flagged Kinta S -- built and launched in Japan in 1976 -- was put under on Wednesday afternoon, giving onlookers time to wave goodbye as it slowly sunk beneath the three- to five-foot waves. The freighter arrived in Texas late last week from Alabama, where it was certified clean and environmentally safe to submerge. Scientists say small schools of fish will began colonizing the new piece of reef within the next few days.

The ship is now part of the Corpus Christi Nearshore Reef, 169-acre artificial reef made up of several hundred concrete pyramids and a few thousand tons of concrete culverts. The faux reef is just one of 68 already in the Gulf, each ranging in size from 40 to 360 acres. Texas' artificial reef program is one of the largest in the country.