(MENAFN- Gulf Times) A Jordanian Air Force plane has been lowered into the Gulf of Aqaba on Thursday in an attempt to create a new coral reef on the sea bed that will provide space for marine life to flourish.
The prospective reef is expected to develop inside the empty plane about 50 feet under water and will be viewable or accessible to divers, swimmers and passengers travelling in glass-bottom boats, the Jordan News Agency reported.
The decommissioned C-130 Hercules, developed by Lockheed Martin, is about 112 feet long and is large enough to carry more than 120 troops in addition to cargo and weapons. The Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority, which works to maintain the coastal towns and port areas of Egypt, Israel, Jordan and Saudi Arabia on the gulf, received the plane as a gift from the Jordanian military.
The jet will now become an underwater ecosystem that will host crustaceans, fish and other sea creatures. A similar effort has taken place in New York City, where thousands of decommissioned subway cars have been dumped into the Atlantic Ocean to create artificial reefs on the eastern sea bed.
A body of a military transport C-130 Hercules plane, donated by the Jordanian Royal Air Force, is seen submerged in the Red Sea off Aqaba.
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