A famous ship from Philadelphia will set sail south after being docked at the same pier for nearly thirty years. The SS United States and Penn Warehousing have officially entered into an agreement their two-year dispute and the ship will now be turned into an artificial reef in keeping with a museum Okaloosa County, Florida.
On Friday afternoon, the SS United States Conservancy said the lawsuit between the organizations has been difficult and has “dramatically affected” the ship’s future plans, but has been officially settled.
Susan Gibbs, president of the SS United States Conservancy, who is also the granddaughter of the ship’s designer, explained in a statement that the legal proceedings accelerated the conservancy’s timeline in finding a new home for the ship. But ultimately, they were unable to land at a site that “proved viable within our current timetable and logistical constraints.”
According to Gibbs, the conservation organization unveiled a redevelopment plan for 2023 the ship that would be a “privately funded, permanently moored, mixed use and economic engine.” The plan, which the Conservancy said took five years of planning, showed it could create thousands of jobs and millions in revenue. But the plan was halted before it could begin due to the “difficulty in securing the planned location of the pier and the reluctance of government agencies to prioritize the project,” the conservation organization said.
The statement went on to say that since they could not save the ship in its current state and were under the court order’s time limit, they had one of two options: scrap the boat or convert it into an artificial reef. The Conservancy decided to choose the latter.
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“This next chapter of the story of the SS United States will bring tens of thousands of people from around the world every year to experience her,” Gibbs said. “Okaloosa County has now committed more than $10 million to reactivate the SS United States as the world’s largest artificial reef, along with the land-based museum and visitor center.”
According to Gibbs, the conservancy aims to create a state-of-the-art museum that combines modern technology with original artifacts and artwork from the SS United States. They plan to incorporate one or both of the ship’s funnels and the radar mast and create areas on the ship using original materials.
As for what’s next, once the Conservancy transfers ownership of the ship to Okaloosa County, the ship will leave Philadelphia waters and sail to Norfolk, Virginia, for extensive reefing preparations in the coming months.
