New Orleans ? Marine scientists and Louisiana officials are floating the idea of sinking some of Uncle Sam’s cast-off ships along the water’s edge to create a steel barrier against hurricane flooding.

The barrier would be made up of aging and obsolete tankers, research vessels and cargo ships.

Since Hurricane Katrina hit, Louisiana is looking at every option for shoring up its storm defenses – especially quick fixes. Levees take years to build, and restoring lost marshes and cypress forests even longer.

“When you’re in this desperate state, we can’t afford to laugh at anything,” said Paul Kemp with Louisiana State University’s School of the Coast and the Environment. Sinking ships could be done in a way that is safe for the environment, he said.

In recent days, state Sen. Walter Boasso has been talking up the idea on radio and at forums. “What I don’t want to see happen is we have more studies and wait 20 years to have something done,” Boasso said. “I want to see something happen.”

Boasso represents St. Bernard Parish, 486 square miles of swamp, pasture and towns southeast of New Orleans.

The Spiegel Grove, right, a 510-foot retired Navy ship, continues to sink in this 2002 photo in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. The ship was scuttled to create an artificial reef. Marine scientists and Louisiana officials are floating the idea of sinking some of Uncle Sam's cast-off ships along the water's edge to create a steel barrier against hurricane flooding.

Nearly every square foot of the parish was inundated by Katrina, which broke levees. The catastrophic flooding, St. Bernard officials say, was due in large part to a navigation channel that runs through the parish.

Shannon Russell, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Maritime Administration, said there are about 125 ships on the government disposal list. Most often, ships are bought by scrap metal companies. But recently, a retired Navy warship was sunk off the coast of Florida to create an artificial reef.

It can take years to get approval to sink a ship in open waters, Russell said. But Boasso’s proposal takes a different approach and seeks to use the ships as levees, something the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers would have authority over, she said.