PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The SS United States, the retired ocean liner that has been docked in South Philadelphia for nearly 30 years, has received yet another departure date.
The SS United States Conservancy announced that the rusting ship again received Coast Guard approval and will move laterally from South Philly’s Pier 82 to Pier 80 over the weekend. Then, it will officially disembark on Tuesday, Feb. 18, and make its final voyage to the South. The ship was originally projected to depart Monday, but with excessive wind gusts forecasted, officials pushed the date back.
The vessel will be towed to Mobile, Alabama, where it will be stripped of hazardous materials, according to the ship’s new owner, Okaloosa County, Florida. That process is expected to take about a year. The ultimate goal is to sink it off the Florida panhandle as the world’s largest artificial reef.
Okaloosa County’s Tourist Development Department has budgeted $10.1 million for the project.
The ship was supposed to depart Philadelphia back in November 2024, but the Coast Guard raised safety concerns and postponed the plan multiple times.
The ship has been docked in South Philly for nearly 30 years. In 2011, the SS United States Conservancy purchased it intending to repurpose it. Attempts to turn it into a hotel, a casino and a museum have failed over the years. In 2021, the ship’s dock fees were doubled by the pier’s owner to $1,700 a day. The Conservancy’s lease was terminated in 2022 when it could not afford to pay the increase.