The SS United States will not be leaving South Philadelphia early Saturday morning. The start of its trip that ultimately will end off the coast of the Florida Panhandle has been delayed again, the ship's owner said Thursday.
The ship originally had been scheduled to scooch from Pier 82 to Pier 80 on the Delaware River at 6 a.m. Thursday in preparation for it to be towed out to the Atlantic Ocean and then south at 4 a.m. Saturday morning.
But that initial move was pushed back to 8:21 p.m. Thursday "due to a combination of factors," officials said. Just before 5 p.m. Thursday, spokesperson Nick Tomacek for Okaloosa County, Florida, said in an email that Saturday's move had been postponed.
"Plans to move the SS United States from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Mobile, Alabama, have been delayed due to follow-up details requested by the U.S. Coast Guard to ensure a proper tow from Pier 82 to Pier 80," Tomacek wrote.
A new departure date has not been set.
Okaloosa County paid $1 million for the SS United States on Sept. 23, buying it from the conservancy that was in charge of preserving the ship during the decades it has spent in Philadelphia. The sale was a byproduct of the legal battle between the SS United States Conservancy and rent owed the owner of the South Philly pier where it is docked.
Okaloosa County bought the SS United States with the plan to sink the ship 20 miles off its coast in the Gulf of Mexico, creating the largest artificial reef in the world and an attraction that officials there believe will be a boost to the county's tourism industry.
The SS United States has been docked in Philadelphia since 1996. The ship 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.
On its maiden voyage, the SS United States set the transatlantic speed record, reaching a speed of over 38 knots, or about 44 mph. It remained in service until Nov. 14, 1969.
When the SS United States does leave Philadelphia, it will be towed by tug boats down the Delaware River to the Atlantic Ocean. From there it will go south along the East Coast and navigate around the southern tip of Florida headed to Mobile, Alabama. The ship will be docked in Mobile for a about a year as work is done to prepare it to be sunk of the coast of Okaloosa County.
