A piece of maritime history, the SS United States, is set to become the world's largest artificial reef, destined for the depths of Florida's Gulf Coast.
However, the ocean liner's final resting place is contested, with competing diving businesses vying for its proximity.
Meanwhile, there have been legal challenges to halt the sinking entirely.
Currently undergoing a meticulous month-long cleaning at the Port of Mobile, Alabama, the nearly 1,000-foot vessel is being prepared for its transformation.
Workers are painstakingly emptying and cleaning all 120 fuel tanks, removing chemicals, wiring, plastic, and glass to mitigate any potential environmental impact.
The ship, which shattered the trans-Atlantic speed record on its maiden voyage in 1952, is now at the centre of a tug-of-war, its future hanging in the balance.
While some envision the ship as a vibrant underwater attraction, others raise concerns about the ecological consequences of such a massive undertaking.
“There’s a lot of nasties on vessels that were built back in the '50s," Okaloosa County coastal resource manager Alex Fogg said. “Basically, when it’s ready to be deployed, it will be a steel and aluminum structure."
The SS United States is set to join Okaloosa County’s more than 500 artificial reefs, which include a dozen smaller ship wrecks. Officials hope to draw tourists and generate millions of dollars annually for scuba shops, charter fishing boats and hotels, as well as provide habitat for critical fish species and other sea life.
“The goal here is to be the dive capital of the state of Florida,” Fogg said. “We’re even trying to surpass the Florida Keys.”
Fogg said they expect to have the SS United States sunk by the end of the year at one of three permitted locations, all just over 20 nautical miles (37 kilometers) from Destin, Florida. All three locations are the same depth, about 180 feet (55 meters) of water to the sand, but the vessel is so tall that the top decks will be about 60 feet (18 meters) from the surface.
“That’s very much within the beginner diver profile, and those deeper depths will be certainly attractive to those technical and advanced divers,” Fogg said.
Bay County officials have agreed to offer $3 million to Okaloosa County to sink the SS United States closer to Panama City Beach.
Visit Panama City Beach President and CEO Dan Rowe said his area has one of the largest dive boat fleets along the northern Gulf Coast. Bay County has a long history of developing technology used in underwater exploration and the U.S. Navy’s dive school is located at Naval Support Activity Panama City.
“Diving is part of our DNA,” Rowe said.
Escambia County officials are offering only $1 million to sink the ship closer to Pensacola, but Visit Pensacola President and CEO Darien Schaefer said the western location is just 12 nautical miles (22 kilometers) away from to the USS Oriskany, another popular dive site sunk in 2006. He said divers would be able to visit both wrecks in a single day.
“We just think it would be a legendary dive site to have those two wrecks within close proximity,” Schaefer said.
The SS United States arrived in Alabama at the beginning of March following a 12-day tow from Philadelphia’s Delaware River, where it has spent nearly three decades. Okaloosa County was able to take ownership of the vessel after a years-old rent dispute was resolved in October between the conservancy that oversees the ship and its landlord.
Various groups have attempted to restore the SS United States over the years, but all plans were eventually abandoned because of the steep cost. Recently, increased media attention has generated more calls to preserve the ship, and a group called the New York Coalition has even filed a lawsuit in Pensacola federal court asking a judge to halt sinking such a historically significant vessel.
But preventing the SS United States from becoming a reef would only send it to the scrapyard, Fogg said. Also, the county's $10.1 million plan to purchase, move, clean and sink the ship includes $1 million toward a landside museum to promote the ship's history.
“Once the vessel is deployed as an artificial reef, there are going to be more people visiting it in the first month of it underwater than have visited it in the last 30 years," Fogg said.
The SS United States, more than 100 feet (30 meters) longer than the RMS Titanic, was once considered a beacon of American engineering, doubling as a military vessel that could carry thousands of troops. Its maiden voyage broke the trans-Atlantic speed record in both directions when it reached an average speed of 36 knots, or just over 41 mph (66 kph), The Associated Press reported from aboard the ship.
The ship crossed the Atlantic Ocean in three days, 10 hours and 40 minutes, besting the RMS Queen Mary’s time by 10 hours. To this day, the SS United States holds the trans-Atlantic speed record for an ocean liner.
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