SS United States luxury liner cleared for final voyage to Florida
Feb. 5 (UPI) -- The SS United States has been cleared to sail from south Philadelphia to Mobile, Ala., in preparation for its eventual sinking in northwest Florida to become the world's largest artificial reef.
The vessel will be towed from its berth on the Delaware River in south Philadelphia to Mobile, where it will be readied for its eventual sinking in the Gulf 20 miles off Destin-Fort Walton Beach.
The Okaloosa County Tourist Development Department completed the necessary safety requirements from respective federal, state and local regulators.
The SS United States was built in 1951 and sailed from 1952 until its retirement in 1969. The ship had a capacity of 1,984 passengers.
Divers will be able to visit the vessel and explore its surrounding ecosystem that will support a variety of marine life, the Okaloosa County Tourist Development Department said Wednesday in a news release.
"As the World's Largest Artificial Reef, the story of the SSUS will be told to thousands of divers from around the world as they explore her unique design and features," the OCTDD said. "She will also benefit her surrounding ecosystem and become home to countless marine species that will thrive from the presence of her structure."
The ship's size and the depth at which it will be sunk will support a "wide variety of marine life from iconic reef fish such as red snapper to pelagic species of fish, like wahoo," and "will provide bountiful fishing and diving opportunities for the local, visiting and charter industries," according to the OCTDD.
The SS United States will begin its move on Thursday morning, when it will be moved from Pier 82 to Pier 80 and then towed from south Philadelphia at 4 a.m. Saturday if visibility is sufficient for enabling safe passage during low tide.
If visibility is poor, the vessel will remain docked until the next low tide when visibility is sufficient.
Several tugboats will escort the SS United States as it enters the Atlantic Ocean and is towed south along the eastern seaboard and around the Florida peninsula to Mobile during a two-week voyage.
Those interested can follow the vessel's final journey online via GPS tracking that will start when the vessel begins is final voyage.
The 990-foot ship initially was scheduled to be towed to Mobile on Nov. 14, but bad weather and safety concerns delayed its departure.
Once the luxury liner has docked in Mobile, contractors will remove hazardous material, such as asbestos, fuel and non-metal parts, to make it safe for eventual deployment as an artificial reef.
Contractors also will modify the vessel to ensure it will sink hull-first and remain upright after coming to rest on the floor of the Gulf and becoming the world's largest artificial reef.
The process to prepare the vessel for its final deployment will take about 12 months and a museum dedicated to the SS United States will display many of its items at a museum dedicated to the vessel in Destin-Fort Walton Beach.
The SS United States Conservancy will work with the OCTDD to develop the land-based museum that will incorporate the ship's iconic features, including its funnels, radar mast and other components.
The conservancy will curate and manage an archival collection while preserving the ship's history.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
UPI
a day ago
- UPI
FAA limits flights at Newark airport for the rest of 2025
June 7 (UPI) -- Arrivals and departures are limited for the rest of the year at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey. The restrictions took effect on Friday and limit arrivals and departures to 28 per hour on weekends while airport construction occurs from Sept. 1 through Dec. 31, the Federal Aviation Administration announced on Friday. Arrivals and departures also are limited to no more than 34 per hour during other periods through Oct. 25. "The confirmed reduced rates will maintain safety while alleviating excessive flight delays at the airport due to staffing and equipment challenges," the FAA announcement says. "The early completion of runway construction at the airport that added to the delays will also contribute to a more efficient operation." Similar travel restrictions "paid dividends" by enabling "smooth travel into and out of Newark" over the Memorial Day holiday, according to the FAA. Officials at the federal agency recently met with airline representatives to discuss problems at the Newark airport that triggered long delays and flight cancellations that left many air passengers stranded for hours and sometimes longer. The discussions led to the current flight restrictions while undertaking several improvements at the airport and regionally. The FAA is working to improve operations at the Newark airport by adding three new high-bandwidth telecommunications links between New York-based hubs and the Philadelphia-based terminal radar approach control system for regional air traffic control. Old copper telecommunications connections will be replaced with fiber-optic technology for greater bandwidth and speed, and a temporary backup system to the Philadelphia-based TRACON system will be active while improvements are done. The FAA also is increasing air traffic controller staffing by adding 22 fully certified controllers and five fully certified supervisors at the Newark airport and others in the area. "The U.S. Department of Transportation and the FAA will continue working with all stakeholders to ensure that the airport is a safe, efficient and functional gateway for passengers and air crews," the FAA announcement says.
Business Upturn
4 days ago
- Business Upturn
RateGain partners with Razorpay to streamline hotel payment solutions
By Aman Shukla Published on June 5, 2025, 11:38 IST RateGain Travel Technologies has announced a strategic integration between its Booking Engine platform and Razorpay, a full-stack payments and banking platform. The partnership aims to enhance the payment experience for hotels in India by providing a secure and flexible payment processing system. Through this integration, hotels using RateGain's platform will gain access to a wide range of payment methods, including UPI, mobile wallets, net banking, domestic and international credit/debit cards, EMIs, and Pay Later options. This expansion supports a seamless and accessible booking process for both domestic and international guests. The collaboration is also expected to improve backend efficiency. Features like real-time transaction tracking, automated settlement reports, and centralized dashboards help reduce manual efforts and simplify financial reconciliation for hotel operators. In terms of security, Razorpay offers PCI DSS Level 1 and SOC 3 compliance, along with built-in fraud detection tools, helping to maintain high transaction safety standards. This integration comes at a time when India's hospitality sector is undergoing rapid digital transformation, with a growing demand for guest-centric and AI-enabled solutions to improve operational performance and customer experience. Aman Shukla is a post-graduate in mass communication . A media enthusiast who has a strong hold on communication ,content writing and copy writing. Aman is currently working as journalist at
UPI
4 days ago
- UPI
Trump issues travel ban from 12 countries; 7 nations restricted
President Donald Trump holds a press conference in the Oval Office at the White House on Friday. Onv Wednesday, he issued a travel ban on 12 countries and limited ones for seven others. Photo by Francis Chung/UPI | License Photo June 4 (UPI) -- President Donald Trump on Wednesday issued a proclamation to "fully restrict and limit" entry of people from 12 foreign countries starting at 12:01 EDT Monday. Citing national security concerns, Trump issued the ban on nationals from Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. Also, he partially restricted and limited entry from seven countries: Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela. Of the 19 named nations, 10 are in Africa. "These restrictions distinguish between, but apply to both, the entry of immigrants and nonimmigrants," the order states about the two designations," the proclamation reads. There are exceptions for lawful permanent residents, existing visa holders, certain visa categories and individuals whose entry serves US national interests. Later Wednesday, he posted a video on Truth Social announcing the bans. "The list is subject to revision based on whether material improvements are made," Trump said. "And likewise new countries can be added as threats emerge around the world, but we will not allow people to enter our country who wish to do us harm and nothing will stop us from keeping America safe." The proclamation reads: "As President, I must act to protect the national security and national interest of the United States and its people. I remain committed to engaging with those countries willing to cooperate to improve information-sharing and identity-management procedures, and to address both terrorism-related and public-safety risks. Nationals of some countries also pose significant risks of overstaying their visas in the United States, which increases burdens on immigration and law enforcement components of the United States, and often exacerbates other risks related to national security and public safety." White House deputy press secretary Abigail Jackson wrote on X: "President Trump is fulfilling his promise to protect Americans from dangerous foreign actors that want to come to our country and cause us harm. These commonsense restrictions are country-specific and include places that lack proper vetting, exhibit high visa overstay rates, or fail to share identity and threat information." On his first day in office on Jan. 20, Trump signed an executive order that it is the policy of the United States to "protect its citizens from aliens who intend to commit terrorist attacks, threaten our national security, espouse hateful ideology, or otherwise exploit the immigration laws for malevolent purposes." Secretary of State Marco Rubio was ordered to compile a list of countries "for which vetting and screening information is so deficient as to warrant a partial or full suspension on the admission of nationals from those countries." The proclamation said: "Some of the countries with inadequacies face significant challenges to reform efforts. Others have made important improvements to their protocols and procedures, and I commend them for these efforts. But until countries with identified inadequacies address them, members of my Cabinet have recommended certain conditional restrictions and limitations." CNN reported Trump decided to sign the proclamation after the antisemitic attack in Boulder, Colo., though the system didn't come to the United States from the restricted countries. Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45, of Colorado Springs, has been charged with a federal hate crime and he is facing 16 state counts of attempted murder on Monday. Soliman, an Egyptian national who spent time in Kuwait, entered California in August 2022 on a B2 visa that expired in February 2023 and his asylum claim was pending. Alex Nowrasteh, who works for Cato Institute, a nonpartisan and independent public policy research organization, said the threat of foreign-born terrorists is rare. "A single terrorist from those countries murdered one person in an attack on US soil: Emanuel Kidega Samson from Sudan, who committed an attack motivated by anti-white animus in 2017," Nowrasteh wrote. The annual chance of being murdered by a terrorist from one of the banned countries from 1975 to the end of 2024 was about 1 in 13.9 billion per year." He also noted that travelers and immigrants from the 12 banned countries have a nationwide incarceration rate of 370 per 100,000 in 2023 for the 18-54 aged population, which 70 percent below that of native-born Americans. The data came from the U.S. Census and American Community Survey Data. During his first term, Trump banned travel by citizens of predominantly Muslim countries, including Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. Amid legal challenges, it was modified and upheld by the Supreme Court in 2018. When President Joe Biden took office in 2021, he repealed it.
