The rusting remains of the Niobe Corinthian have finally been sunk offshore, transforming it from an embarrassing eyesore at the doorway to St David's to an artificial reef that will attract marine life and divers alike. After years of planning and preparing, the old notorious casino ship now sits 12 miles off-shore at 70 feet some 2.5 kilometres northwest of North Rock Beacon. A crew that included members of Marine and Ports, the Bermuda Intact Wreck Initiative, the police, Blue Water Divers, the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute and the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources headed out yesterday morning from the Corinthian's moorings at Marginal Wharf to undertake the operation.According to Neil Stempel of the Bermuda Intact Wreck Initiative everything went to plan although there was a point the ship could have tipped and sunk either on its side or upside down. Mr Stempel told The Royal Gazette: “It was underwater at 3.35pm. It took about two-and-a- half hours getting it to flood. It went down by the starboard bow initially then started to turn into port because there was a lot of wind on it. It looked like it was going to roll but ended up settling correctly on the bottom. It gave everybody a bit of a scare as it was tilting 60 degrees or more.[naviga:iframe width="630" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/JNi92vOFupQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen][/naviga:iframe]“The chaps at Blue Water Divers ended up picking up the buoys and were diving on it this afternoon as we left so it is now on the mooring programme.“The Bermuda Dive Association and all the dive shops are promoting it as the new dive site.”Asked how he felt now the project was over, Mr Stempel added: “It's a big sigh of relief — the most important thing is that it has settled straight up on its keel at the bottom. It's been a lot of work and I'm glad it's over.”Originally built by Shell Oil, the refitted Niobe Corinthian first came to Bermuda waters in 2005 as a floating casino but it was dogged by controversy from the beginning. Its operators sidestepped the island's anti-gaming laws and the 175ft ship operated 12 miles offshore in international waters, where gambling became legal. But the ship still had to use Bermuda as its home port, and police raided it in August 2006, seizing 100 gaming machines.Then captain, Fermin Reyes, was arrested along with manager George Kezas, and later convicted of illegally importing the machines into Bermuda.The ship was later damaged by fire in 2007 the day before it prepared to set sail and was raided again by police in 2008. Legal actions abounded as the ship sat moored in St David's, including a lengthy suit to pay back wages and repatriation costs for its crew.Government took ownership of the derelict ship in 2014. It remained at Marginal Wharf, owned by the Bermuda Land Development Company, and work has since been going on, preparing it to be safely installed on the sea floor.The Department of Marine of Ports enlisted the Biwi to help clean and prepare the vessel, making it safe for divers. It was a laborious task that included the cleaning of the engine room, demolishing structures and removal of hazardous materials. The Department of Environmental Services carried out inspections before signing off on the clean-up operation. The Biwi, which has also sunk the Sea Venture and Faithful in Bermuda, spent $355,000 on its part of the clean-up of the Corinthian with funds generated by the Stempel Foundation in the US, which gives funding to the National Museum of Bermuda.Mr Stempel estimates that the wreck could sit on the seabed at North Rock for some 30 or 40 years before it disintegrates. “It had extremely thick beams on it because it was built as a service tender for the Gulf of Mexico oil rigs — it is a very well-constructed vessel.”Resting at 70ft underwater, the top point of the vessel will be about 16ft from the surface at low tide making it accessible to scuba divers and even free divers. According to Mr Stempel, the wreck is mainly an empty shell, but divers may spot a mirror with a palm tree painted on it as a reminder of its time as a gambling ship in our shores.