Sunken carrier reels in the divers (2/4ページ)

"It has generated millions of dollars in media coverage, not just here but overseas, and put Pensacola on the map as an international dive site," said Laura Lee, spokeswoman for the Pensacola Bay Area Chamber of Commerce. "Divers from Japan, Australia and Russia have come here because of the stories they have seen."

Pensacola-based Scuba Shack's business has tripled since the Oriskany was scuttled, co-owner Gene Ferguson said.

"The dive business has definitely increased with the sinking of the Oriskany," said Douglas Hammock, captain of the H2O Below, which specializes in dive trips to the carrier. "We ran every day during the busy summer season."

Several new dive shops have opened. Among them is Bay Breeze Dive Center in Gulf Breeze, Fla., where dive master Steve Johnson said the shop was doing brisk business with three or four charter boats during the summer peak.

Employees with Houston Scuba Academy in Texas and Mike's Dive Center in Lake Charles, La., said they were planning dive trips to the Oriskany this summer.