A two-week tow to take the historic liner SS United States from Philadelphia to Florida’s Gulf coast is rescheduled to begin Feb. 18, after an initial phase Friday when tugs maneuvered the ship from its longtime berth at Pier 82.
Organizers had planned for a Feb. 17 departure. But high wind warnings issued Saturday – when the National Weather Service forecast gusts Monday up to 50 mph – led to a revised plan to start the tow shortly after 12 p.m. Tuesday.
The 992’x101’ liner – the world’s fastest passenger ship when it entered service in 1952 – has languished for almost 30 years, even after the nonprofit SS United States Conservancy begn in 2011 to pursue hopes for restoring the ship as a waterfront museum and mixed-use commercial future.
With those plans exhausted, the conservancy and Okaloosa County, Fla., reached a $10.1 million plan to create an onshore museum about the SS United States, and sink the vessel off the Destin-Fort Walton coast on the Florida Panhandle as a future recreational diving and fishing attraction.
The tow plan is to move the United States to a docking area in Mobile, Ala., where preparations will continue for emplacing the ship offshore. The first stage, a lateral shift to adjacent Pier 80 in South Philadelphia was delayed a week ago.
Since then, “after completing additional due diligence involving further testing and safety protocols for the U.S. Coast Guard, Okaloosa County has again received approval to proceed with moving the SS United States from Pier 82 in South Philadelphia to a docking area in Mobile, Ala.,” according to an online update from the SS United States Conservancy.
The sideways shuffle was completed Friday, while much of Philadelphia was preoccupied with a parade celebrating the city’s Eagles team championship victory at the Super Bowl. The night before the move, the SS United States was floodlit in green light to celebrate the city's football holiday.
On Tuesday the plan is for tugboats to maneuver the SS United States out into the Delaware River channel and start the tow downriver at low tide around 12:29 p.m. Eastern time. The ship will pass under the Walt Whitman Bridge that carries Interstate 76, the Commodore Barry Bridge with U.S. 322, and the Delaware Memorial Bridge where Interstate 295 crosses the river’s progress to Delaware Bay.
The Delaware River Port Authority is coordinating bridge closures during the transit. The SS United States Conservancy says it plans a video livestream as the tow begins Monday, and
Okaloosa County officials say their “contractors will be utilizing real-time route planning, which will adjust the ship's course every 6-hours based on weather and currents. You can track the ship's course at https://www.destinfwb.com/explore/eco-tourism/ssus/.”
