No deadline extension for SS United States to vacate, judge rules

A federal judge on Monday denied a request by the owner of the SS United States for more time to move the former luxury cruise liner from its Philadelphia berth and left in place an order for the ship to vacate by Sept. 12.

The ruling comes as the owner, the SS United States Conservancy, has been scrambling to find the vessel a new home after a lawsuit by its landlord led to a ruling in June that the ship needed to leave.

Since the ruling, the conservancy has explored numerous potential homes but has also considered selling the ship to Okaloosa County or Escambia Counties, both in Florida.

The counties have expressed an interest in buying the ship and sinking it to create an artificial reef and tourist destination for divers. However, negotiations have not been finalized with either county.

The conservancy sought to extend the order to vacate to Dec. 5, which led to a hearing in federal court in Philadelphia on Monday.

Scott Wardell, a lawyer for the conservancy, argued that with the hurricane season already here, there might not be a period in which the group could organize the two-week voyage of the SS United States to Florida.

Craig Mills, a lawyer representing the landlord, Penn Warehouse and Distribution, said the conservancy had not done anything to prepare for the ship’s departure, such as creating a required tow plan to be approved by the U.S. Coast Guard.

Mills added that the conservancy is misleading the public by displaying a “Help Save America’s Flagship the SS United States” on its website despite being in talks to sink it. (The conservancy has been attempting to fundraise $500,000 to help relocate the ship.)  

When U.S. District Court Judge Anita B. Brody asked what the conservancy was doing to prepare for the move, Wardell did not seem ready with an answer except to say the group was in talks with the Florida counties.

“I haven’t heard anything from you that doesn’t tell me that you won’t come crying to me on Dec. 5,” Brody told Wardell.

Mills told the judge that if the conservancy does not move or sell the ship, Penn Warehouse would consider arresting the vessel and selling it.

After a brief recess, Wardell said the conservancy would agree to keep the Sept. 12 deadline but only to finalize the sale of the ship. After Mills agreed, Brody denied the motion to extend the deadline to Dec. 5 and told the parties that she expected them to settle the issue by Sept. 12.

Throughout the hearing, Brody emphasized that she sympathized with the conservancy’s mission, having ridden on the Queen Mary, and that she supports historic preservation.

“I appreciate your feelings about the ship, but the law is the law,” she said. She added that while she would like to see the ship preserved, “it’s not realistic and we all have to live with realism.”

The conservancy has said in the past that sinking the ship to convert it into an underwater, artificial reef was “clearly not our first choice for the future of America’s Flagship,” but it was an alternative to scrapping the vessel entirely.

In a statement, the conservancy said, “While our three-month extension to handle logistical, safety, environmental, and regulatory challenges associated with moving the vessel was not granted, we appreciate Judge Brody’s openness to the ship staying at her current pier beyond Sept. 12 should we secure a contract to remove the vessel by that time.”

If the effort to bring the SS United States to Florida is successful, it would join another destination artificial reef, a decommissioned Essex Class attack aircraft carrier, the USS Oriskany, which was sunk off the coast of Pensacola, Fla., in 2006.

Read more: SS United States faces being scrapped after losing berth battle in Philadelphia

Brody’s decision comes after months of back-and-forth filings between the conservancy and Penn Warehousing about the fate of the SS United States, which was once a cruise ship not unlike that of the famous Queen Mary.

With luxurious first-class rooms and an indoor pool, the United States allowed passengers to ride in style across the Atlantic Ocean.

During her first trek across the ocean in 1952, the United States beat the Queen Mary’s record crossing time, making it in just three days and 12 hours.

The ship continued to make the roughly 2,900-mile voyage until 1969, according to SS United States Conservancy.

Today, the SS United States sits rusting in its berth in Philadelphia, not having moved since 1996. The luxurious rooms and dining halls of the once glorified ship are empty, with its artifacts having been auctioned in 1984, according to the conservancy.