by Brian Major
Last updated: 3:25 PM ET, Wed September 11, 2024
The country’s most historic ocean liner faces an uncertain
future that may include submersion deep beneath ocean waters.
After nearly 30 years moored at a Philadelphia dock, the
historic liner could soon have its future determined. In late August, a federal
judge sided with pier operator Penn Warehousing in a rent dispute with owners
the SS United States Conservancy and ordered the vessel to leave the pier by
September 12.
The ship’s owners subsequently announced they had “entered
into a contingent contract” to sell the SS United States to Oskaloosa County,
Fla. The municipality plans to sink the rusting ocean liner to create an
underwater reef.
That plan seemingly remains on hold as on September 2 the
Oskaloosa’s County Board of Commissioners reportedly delayed a budget vote that
would have met the court deadline for the ship to leave or pay Penn
Warehousing’s higher rental fees, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
In a statement, the Conservancy said the agreement remains subject to “various
contingencies” and is not yet complete.
On the organization’s website, officials said Philadelphia judge
Anita Brody “indicated that should the Conservancy enter a contract to remove
the vessel to a new location by September 12, she expects that a good faith
negotiation be undertaken to allow the ship’s safe and proper removal at a
later date.”
The statement added, “Judge Brody also indicated the
parties will likely be called back to court in early September to discuss
progress toward a removal scenario.”
Conservancy officials confirmed they have “engaged in
extensive negotiations with two counties in Florida for the ship's potential
conversion into an artificial underwater reef in tandem with a land-based
museum."
The Conservancy has struggled to find a new purpose and
berth for the famed ship over its near three decades in the City of Brotherly
Love.
In 2016, Crystal Cruises announced a plan to refurbish the SS United States. Pictured are Edie Rodriguez (right), then Crystal’s president, and Susan Gibbs, the Conservancy’s president and co-founder. (Photo by Brian Major)
Launched in 1952 in the waning years of transatlantic liner
travel, the 53,329-gross ton SS United States was considered a hallmark of post-war industrial
design and innovation. The ship set a transatlantic speed record on its
maiden voyage, earning the Blue Riband, a distinction which still stands.
The United States also remains the largest passenger vessel
ever designed (by American naval architect William Francis Gibbs) and built in
the U.S. The liner transported four U.S. presidents, international royalty and
Hollywood celebrities prior to its 1969 retirement.
The historic ship has been sold many times since then as an
array of owners sought to make the by-then outdated vessel profitable. The ship’s
interiors were sold at auction, leaving the interior bare by 1994.
Since purchasing the liner in 2011, the SS United States
Conservancy has conceived several unfulfilled proposals to restore the vessel.
In 2016, luxury operator Crystal Cruises entered an agreement with the Conservancy on a plan to
return the classic ocean liner to service. In a press briefing in New York, then-Crystal
president and CEO Edie Rodriguez said Crystal would cover all costs associated
with preserving the ship, which she estimated at $700 million, and launch a
feasibility study on restoring the vessel to service.
But after the six-month, $1 million study, engineering study,
Crystal announced the plan to convert the liner unfeasible and backed out of the
agreement.
“Unfortunately, the hurdles that would face us when trying
to bring a 65-year-old vessel up to modern safety, design and international
regulatory compliance have proven just too great to clear in both a technically
and commercially responsible manner,” said Rodriguez.
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