UPDATE (Feb. 6 at 9:55 a.m.): The SS United States' shift from Pier 82 to Pier 80 in South Philadelphia has been pushed back to 8:21 p.m. Thursday, at the second high tide of the day, Okaloosa County officials announced.
LATEST: S.S. United States will not leave Philly on Saturday. Plan to tow ocean liner postponed again
The U.S. Coast Guard requested the time change due to a "combination of factors." Saturday's departure from Philadelphia remains on schedule, but is "dependent on visibility," authorities said.
The original story is below.
The SS United States is expected to depart Philadelphia early Saturday morning after months of delays. But first, it will move to another dock in South Philadelphia on Thursday morning.
The ocean liner will be relocated from Pier 82 to Pier 80 on the Delaware River at 6 a.m. Thursday, officials in Okaloosa County, Florida, said on Wednesday. The county on the Florida Panhandle purchased the ship in the fall and plans sink it in the Gulf of Mexico, creating the world's largest artificial reef, a project that has budget of more than $10 million.
On Saturday, the SS United States begins its trip from Philadelphia before 4 a.m., headed to Mobile, Alabama, which will take about two weeks. Work done there to prepare it to be sunk that will take about a year to complete before the SS United States is towed to its final destination 20 nautical miles south of the Destin-Fort Walton Beach.
The SS United States is 990 feet long – 100 feet longer than the Titanic – and weighs 53,000 tons. It is almost 74 years old, having been launched on June 23, 1951.
Tugboats will move the SS United States first from Pier 82 to Pier 80, and then maneuver it out onto the Delaware River on Saturday beginning at 3:30 a.m. The ship will be towed south on the river during low tide at 4:30 a.m. allowing for room to pass beneath bridges.
The ship will pass under the Walt Whitman Bridge, Commodore Barry Bridge, and Delaware Memorial Bridge. Each bridge will be closed to traffic as SS United States floats below. The Delaware River Port Authority coordinating bridge closures, the SS United States Conservancy, the former owners of the ship, said on Wednesday.
If Saturday morning's weather causes poor visibility, the ship will depart at the next low tide, Okaloosa County officials said.
The SS United States has been docked in Philadelphia since 1996. For people who want to see it depart in person, the conservancy recommends watching from the parking lot of the IKEA shopping center at 2206 S. Columbus Blvd. or, on the New Jersey side of the river, from Phoenix Park in Camden.
South of the Walt Whitman Bridge, spectators will be able to see the vessel pass from Fort Mifflin, 6400 Hog Island Road in Philly. In New Jersey, vantage points include Fort Nassau in Brooklawn and Freedom Pier in Gloucester City – both in Camden County – and Red Bank Battlefield Park and the RiverWinds complex in West Deptford – in Gloucester County.
Piers 80 and 82 are within an area secured by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Transportation Security Administration. The public cannot access the piers.
The SS United States Conservancy will livestream the ship's departure on Facebook beginning at 4:15 a.m. Saturday. You also can track the SS United States' movement via GPS on the Destin-Fort Walton Beach website.
In Alabama, contractors will remove hazardous materials from the SS United States, like non-metal parts and fuel, to ensure it will not be harmful to the environment. Modifications also will be made to make sure the ship lands upright on the gulf floor when when it is submerged, Okaloosa County officials said. The preparation process for it to become an artificial reef will take about a year.
Okaloosa County purchased the SS United States from the conservancy for $1 million on Sept. 23. The ocean liner had been scheduled to move south in November, but those plans were delayed because Florida officials wanted to ensure "ideal conditions."
When the ship remained at Pier 82 after Dec. 12, Okaloosa County had to pay a one-time penalty of $100,000 to landlord Penn Warehousing on top of the $3,400 rent the county has been paying per day. The ship stayed put under a "Captain of the Port" order by the U.S. Coast Guard that required testing to ensure the ship would survive the trip down the East Coast.
On Wednesday, officials said Okaloosa County's Tourist Development Department had completed the necessary safety requirements by local, state and federal agencies to move the SS United States.
"After completing comprehensive due diligence involving extensive testing and reporting to local, state, and federal agencies, Okaloosa County has now received final approval from the U.S. Coast Guard to begin moving the SS United States from Pier 82 in South Philadelphia to a docking area in Mobile, Alabama," the SS United States Conservancy said in a release.
Okaloosa will spend $10.1 million to acquire, relocate the vessel and sink it, making it artificial reef. The SS United States will be the largest artificial reef in the world, surpassing the one created by the USS Oriskany, a former Navy aircraft carrier also in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Escambia County, also on the Florida Panhandle.
As a reef, the SS United States will become home to "countless marine species," making it a tourist attraction for fishing and scuba diving, Okaloosa County said in a release. There is a history of such projects paying off –Escambia County budgeted about the same amount 20 years ago to repurpose the USS Oriskany and officials there calculated every dollar they spent returned about $150 in tourism and related business.
The SS United States project includes $1 million to open a museum with some of the ship's artifacts.
The SS United States, which had been at Pier 82 since 1996, has a storied history that includes carrying four presidents and various celebrities over the years and holding the transatlantic speed record it set on its maiden voyage in 1952.
