{"id":354337,"date":"2025-12-17T15:49:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-17T15:49:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/354337\/"},"modified":"2025-12-17T15:49:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-17T15:49:09","slug":"what-to-know-about-the-ss-united-states-sinking-plans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/354337\/","title":{"rendered":"What to know about the SS United States sinking plans"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 990-foot SS United States could be making waves as an artificial reef at the bottom of the Florida Panhandle coast as early as March, according to a tentative timeline from its new owners in Florida<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Even so, hope still springs eternal for the most ardent swath of ship enthusiasts who\u2019d rather see it restored to its former glory than swimming with the fishes. <\/p>\n

As tourism officials in Okaloosa County report being about 80% done with the remediation work required to meet state and federal requirements for sinking, the New York Coalition to Save the SS United States has urged the New York City Council to intervene to the best of its abilities. A move that appeared to be gaining some traction in recent weeks, until it wasn\u2019t<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u00bb READ MORE: Can a Brooklyn businessman save the SS United States from sinking? No, say the ship\u2019s old and new owners.<\/a><\/p>\n

A resolution, first introduced by NYC council member Gale A. Brewer last year, finally got a hearing late-November in the Committee on Cultural Affairs, Libraries and International Intergroup Organizations. <\/p>\n

The symbolic gesture calls on Congress to pass legislation that would allocate funds for restoration and to bring the ship back to New York City\u2019s Gowanus Bay Terminal. It also appeals to President Donald Trump<\/a>, a fellow New Yorker, to sign the legislation. <\/p>\n

Okaloosa County, respectfully, is hearing none of it. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe purchased the vessel specifically to become the world\u2019s largest artificial reef,\u201d said county spokesperson Nick Tomecek. \u201cAnybody that thinks otherwise, that\u2019s just pipe dreams.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00bb READ MORE: Various owners have sunk more than $40 million into buying, maintaining, and reimagining the SS United States during its time in Philly<\/a><\/p>\n

Brewer is aware the odds are against those hoping to reacquire the ship. She acknowledged the resolution was a \u201cHail Mary\u201d during last month\u2019s committee hearing.<\/p>\n

Though the resolution moved to the full council, it has yet been put on the calendar for a vote \u2014 the last session of the year is Thursday. <\/p>\n

Brewer couldn\u2019t speak to why the resolution didn\u2019t get a hearing until a year after she introduced it, but she understands how, despite support on the 51-member council, it hasn\u2019t been put to a vote in the full body.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust like in Philly, we got everything under the sun \u2014 restaurants, small business, parking, it\u2019s just endless,\u201d said Brewer, speaking of the needs council members are juggling in their districts. \u201cI think there\u2019s lots of support, but it\u2019s not like number one on anybody\u2019s list.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brewer said the priority would be to stop the sinking of the ship and once the SS United States is in New York City, preservationists, donors, and lawmakers could figure out the best way to redevelop the ship, though she could see it as a restaurant. <\/p>\n

If this figure-it-out-as-we-go approach<\/a> sounds familiar, it\u2019s because that was the path the SS United States Conservancy, the ship\u2019s previous owners, took when they bought the vessel in 2011. The Conservancy aimed to save the ship from the scrapyard<\/a> and spent years courting potential developers while it sat parked in Philadelphia, even publishing a 2023 feasibility study for a mixed-use development that would cost about $400 million<\/a>. <\/p>\n

In many ways, the New York City resolution is also a tried and tested approach. As the SS United States faced eviction from its berth<\/a> along the Delaware River, the Conservancy launched public campaigns<\/a> calling on Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis<\/a>, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro<\/a> to step in and help the vessel find a new home. <\/p>\n

The Conservancy sent its pleas to then-President Joe Biden<\/a>, as well as various members of Congress from both sides of the aisle. <\/p>\n

Much to the chagrin of preservationists, no politico ever came, despite the Conservancy\u2019s assurances that whoever championed the ship would be rewarded with all the jobs redevelopment would create.<\/p>\n

Whether President Donald Trump, his administration, or this iteration of Congress would intervene at the 11th hour is anyone\u2019s guess. <\/p>\n

The New York Coalition to Save the Steam Ship United States, which launched as a nonprofit in October 2024, wrote to Trump this year asking him to intervene shortly before the ship left Philadelphia to no avail. <\/p>\n

In a lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court in Pensacola after the ship\u2019s departure, the Coalition said it had \u201cno means of knowing whether the Executive Branch of the United States is even aware of the Letter, let alone whether it is being considered.\u201d<\/p>\n

The White House did not immediately respond to questions about whether tell of the ship\u2019s saga had reached Trump\u2019s desk and if the administration would be inclined to step in. <\/p>\n

Either way, time is working against the Coalition.<\/p>\n

The suit warned of how some of the prep work in Mobile, Ala. could hinder preservation efforts. <\/p>\n

\u201c…the twin stacks of SSUS will be removed, as will other parts of her superstructure,\u201d read the suit. \u201cOnce this is done, any hope of preserving the Ship afloat and intact will be lost forever.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those smokestacks were indeed removed at the end of summer. <\/p>\n

So have all portholes and windows, along with the ship\u2019s radar mast and propeller, according to an Okaloosa County update last week.<\/p>\n

Despite the Coalition\u2019s dismantling fears as laid out in the suit, Dan Sweeney, who co-founded the group, hit a more optimistic note, saying it is not too late to stop a reefing. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe Big U remains an important symbol of America,\u201d he said of the SS United States. \u201cIt could also prove to be a robust economic development engine. These two reasons are more than enough for us to continue the effort and many people across the country agree. For us, it\u2019s \u2018damn the torpedoes.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Okaloosa County officials, meanwhile, say the months ahead will be used to finish cleaning the ship, removing all non-metal items, cutting holes throughout the ship because the sinking won\u2019t be able to be done with explosives, and coordinating with various state and local agencies on a sink date. <\/p>\n

Should work continue at its current pace and no delays in inspections take place, the SS United States could be sunk as early as March. <\/p>\n

Alex Fogg, the Natural Resources Chief for Destin-Fort Walton Beach, said weather delays, of course, are always possible. If one takes place in March, he said, a week will be set each month thereafter so all the necessary agencies can be present.<\/p>\n

Tomecek reiterated that the county was working with the SS United States\u2019 previous owners to build a land-based museum, which will feature the eye-catching smokestacks and other preserved ship memorabilia and artifacts. <\/p>\n

He understands the renewed interest in \u201csaving\u201d the ship, though the ship would have been turned into scrap had Okaloosa officials not stepped in. In any case, Tomecek said these efforts come too little, too late.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that when [the SS United States] was sold to the county, a lot of folks kind of woke up and realized what was going on, when, in fact, they should have been worried about her the past 30 years when she was sitting in Philadelphia,\u201d said Tomecek.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The 990-foot SS United States could be making waves as an artificial reef at the bottom of the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":354338,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[23,3,176046,21,19,22,20,25,24],"class_list":["post-354337","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-states","tag-america","tag-news","tag-ss-united-states-sinking-progress-nyc-resolution","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/354337","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=354337"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/354337\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/354338"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=354337"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=354337"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=354337"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}