High winds have again delayed the departure of the SS United States from South Philadelphia, pushing back its exit until Wednesday afternoon.
The historic ocean liner is scheduled to leave at low tide 12:51 p.m., although tugboats will begin moving it into the Delaware River channel two or three hours before that. The ship, which is heading on a journey to be sunk and turned into an artificial reef off the coast of Florida, was set to leave Monday, but high winds pushed its departure back to Tuesday before conditions forced the latest postponement.
MORE: Wind delays SS United States' departure from Philly until Tuesday
On Friday, tugboats moved the vessel from Pier 82 to Pier 80 in preparation for transit. Once the ship sets off, it will pass under the Walt Whitman, Commodore Barry and Delaware River Memorial bridges, which will all be temporarily closed to traffic by the Delaware River Port Authority on Wednesday afternoon.
The historic ocean liner is heading on a two-week trip to Mobile, Alabama, where it will spend the next year being cleaned and prepped to be sunk off the Florida Panhandle as a fishing and diving attraction. The ship was purchased in September for $1 million by Okaloosa County, which will spend another $10 million to turn it into a reef about 20 nautical miles south of the Destin-Fort Walton Beach. It will also build a land-based museum with artifacts from the vessel.
The SS United States Conservancy recommends watching the departure from the IKEA parking lot at the shopping center at 2206 S. Columbus Blvd. In New Jersey, it can been seen from Phoenix Park in Camden. The vessel will also go by Fort Mifflin in Philadelphia, Fort Nassau in Brooklawn, Freedon Pier in Gloucester City, Red Bank Battlefield Park and the RiverWinds in West Deptford.
However, those who want to stay home can view a livestream on Facebook and track the ship via GPS on the full journey on the Destin-Fort Walton Beach website.
The ship's conservancy underwent a lengthy legal battle with its landlord in South Philadelphia before it was able to sell it to Okaloosa County. There have been multiple attempts to move the ship since then, but it was continually delayed due to weather and complications with the removal process.
The 990-foot-long SS United States is 100 feet longer than the Titanic. Once it's sunk, it will overtake the USS Oriskany, a former aircraft carrier, as the largest artificial reef along the Florida coastline.
The vessel set the transatlantic speed record during its maiden voyage in 1952 and carried a number of celebrities over the years, including four presidents. It remained in service until 1969 and has been docked in Philadelphia since 1996.