SS United States can't remain at Philadelphia pier past Sept. 12, judge rules
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — In an order handed down Monday, a federal judge sided with Penn Warehousing, ruling the famed cruise liner SS United States Conservancy cannot remain at the South Philadelphia pier beyond Sept. 12.
Multiple calls and messages left with the Conservancy seeking comment were not returned.
An attorney for Penn Warehousing confirmed the Sept. 12 deadline is a firm date for the ship to leave the pier. The ship has idled on the Delaware River waterfront for decades.
The attorney told CBS News Philadelphia that there are counties in Florida interested in sinking the liner as part of an artificial reef, but the Conservancy has been unwilling to reach an agreement.
Both sides have been tangled in a legal tug-of-war for years.
Penn Warehousing sued the SS US to evict the ship from its pier. Following a trial this spring, a federal judge ordered the ship relocated by mid-September.
Court documents show Penn Warehousing warned the Conservancy overseeing the SS US it is prepared to impose a $3 million penalty if the ship is there on Sept. 13.
In a court filing, the Conservancy wrote, "Penn Warehousing hopes to bankrupt the Conservancy, whose precarious financial situation Penn Warehousing recognizes, and seize the ship in the process."
Penn Warehousing says it is losing business, and the penalty represents lost profits.
The pier's owner says a company that would use the pier to bring cars to port is interested and also claims an interest in relocating the ship.
"Even while it solicits half a million dollars from the general public to fund a voyage to nowhere, the Conservancy has studiously ignored offers from at least two entities that stand ready to take charge of the SSUS and remove it from Pier 82 on a timely basis and at no cost to the Conservancy — and in fact to its economic benefit," attorneys for Penn Warehousing wrote in a court filing.
The SS US was designed in the late 1940s. It was intended to move troops quickly in the event of war, but it wasn't needed and instead became a cruise liner.
"Initially, it was the fastest way to go to Europe," Susan Gibbs, the Conservancy's president, said. "It was the fastest ocean liner when there were no alternatives."
Most of the ship's interior compartments have been cleared out, and a labyrinth of asbestos has been removed.
The vessel is longer than the Titanic. Its maiden voyage was in 1952, and it crisscrossed the Atlantic Ocean for 17 years, carrying presidents, dignitaries and entertainers. Efforts to transform the ocean liner have failed to materialize.
Conservancy members previously said if the ship had to move without plans for a new home, it would most likely end up in a scrap heap or sunk as a part of a reef system.
