The Last Fastest Ocean Liner Allegedly Owes $800,000 In Back Rent

https://jalopnik.com ^ | March 13, 2024 | The Last Fastest Ocean Liner Allegedly Owes $800,000 In Back Rent

[Dr. Franklin]

The SS United States is facing eviction from its mooring at Pier 82 in Philadelphia in a lawsuit filed by Penn Warehousing, the pier’s landlord. The ocean liner has been rusting away in the Delaware River since 1996 but has a storied past. In 1952, it broke the once-highly sought record for the fastest transatlantic crossing, the last passenger ship to do so. The SS United States Conservancy, a non-profit attempting to restore the ship, admits that relocation will be necessary but is still aiming to preserve the vessel.

The potential eviction stems from rent increases that could be against the terms of Pier 82’s rental agreement. Warren Jones, a Conservancy board member, told NPR that Penn Warehousing claims that the SS United States owes up to $800,000 back rent. The Conservancy claims that the daily mooring cost has jumped from $850 to $1,700 over the past few years. Jones said, “The rental agreement that they wrote and presented to us had no provision in it for escalating the rent and it even had no time limit on the lease as well.”

The lawsuit, whatever the outcome, will likely mean the SS United States will have to be relocated. Despite being covered in rust, the ship is still structurally sound and can be towed elsewhere. Finding a destination is the difficult part. Being a half-century removed from the age of ocean liners, there aren’t many places to have a ship of that size parked indefinitely.

... The ocean liner’s status as an emergency U.S. Navy troopship during the Cold War kept the ship preserved and ready for wartime service until 1978.

[Dr. Franklin]

The hope of the conservancy was to have the ship refitted as a floating hotel in NYC. It's interior was gutted to remove asbestos and it's interior is now open for restoration or remodeling. There are several good videos about it on YouTube. Enough government money has been wasted through out the decades that it is an embarassment that this national treasure remains rusting in port in Philly. It is visible from I-95 and the Walt Whitman Bridge.

About its engineering: The engineering: What Made the SS United States SO Fast?

Video from the interior of the S.S. United States from the curator of the U.S.S. New Jersey, which is moored across the river in Camden, NJ:
First Class Accommodations on SS United States
Inside The Engine Room of the Fastest Passenger Liner on the Atlantic, SS United States

More about the ship here: S.S. United States

[oldasrocks]

Fill it with illegals and send it to sea. Anyone know how many pound of live cargo it could hold?

[Delta 21]

Pack it to the gills with ILLEGALS and cast off all lines.

[Paladin2]

Put illegals to work scraping and painting.

Also tax them for the dockage.

[monkeyshine]

the ship is still structurally sound and can be towed elsewhere

Towed? So structurally sound but mechanically dubious?

[JZelle]

I only knew about this ship because I once ate in a restaurant in Nags Head N.C.,
furnished with a large collection of items from the ship, including the bar.

The restaurant, Windmill Point, closed years ago. The building was given to a local fire department. The collection was moved to a conservancy.

https://historyscout.blogspot.com/2016/06/return-to-windmill-point-of-nags-head.html?m=1

[Bookshelf]

I took the SS US to Europe. Prior to boarding I had a dental procedure that knocked me on my can for four days (at sea). I woke up and we were in Southhampton. I mean it could travel, and fast. They say it served good chow. I never learned.

[Dr. Franklin]

I only knew about this ship because I once ate in a restaurant in Nags Head N.C., furnished with a large collection of items from the ship, including the bar.
The restaurant, Windmill Point, closed years ago. The building was given to a local fire department. The collection was moved to a conservancy.
https://historyscout.blogspot.com/2016/06/return-to-windmill-point-of-nags-head.html?m=1

From WP:
"In 1984, to pay creditors, the ship's fittings and furniture, which had been left in place since 1969, were sold at auction in Norfolk, Virginia.[42] After a week-long auction from October 8–14, 1984, about 3,000 bidders paid $1.65 million for objects from the ship. Some of the artwork and furniture went to museums like the Mariners' Museum of Newport News, while the largest collection was installed at the later closed Windmill Point Restaurant in Nags Head, North Carolina."

[bigbob]

That don’t confront me what about the front ren?

[Dr. Franklin]

That don’t confront me what about the front ren?

"She's hollerin' about the back rent. She'll be lucky to get any back rent."

One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer

[kvanbrunt2]

Drove by it today. shame. The brass screws i think used to be on the stern deck. They were huge. We would sail past it many times when we had our boat. I recall that they had to flood it partially to get it under the walt whitman bridge when they brought it in.

[kvanbrunt2]

I believe the engines are removed and the twin brass screws were on the stern deck. many years ago.

[Dr. Franklin]

Drove by it today. shame. The brass screws i think used to be on the stern deck. They were huge. We would sail past it many times when we had our boat. I recall that they had to flood it partially to get it under the walt whitman bridge when they brought it in.

The SS United States was fitted with four propellers — two four-bladed and two five-bladed. The propellers have been distributed to museums. One each at the Mariners' Museum in New Port News, VA, The American Merchant Marine Museum, Kings Road, NY, The State University of New York Maritime College, The Bronx, NY, and Hudson River Park, Pier 76, NYC, :
The SS United States’ Preserved Propellers

[Dr. Franklin]

The aft view of the ship showing its screws:

[ridesthemiles]

BETCHA those student loans that were forgiven would have paid this rent.

[Senormechanico]

This sounds like another iconic vessel meeting its end.
Kalakala went through this. An iconic futuristic ferry in the Pacific Northwest which met an untimely and embarassing end. Moneybags Bill Gates couldn’t be bothered.

[Dr. Franklin]

This sounds like another iconic vessel meeting its end. Kalakala went through this. An iconic futuristic ferry in the Pacific Northwest which met an untimely and embarassing end. Moneybags Bill Gates couldn’t be bothered.

Bill Gates still isn't interested in saving anything worth saving while he promotes "vaccines" that aren't. Some billionaire may want to make a hydrofoil to beat the S.S. United States' record. Sadly none are stepping forward to save her. This easily could make money as a floating hotel somewhere. Since it's home port was NYC, the idea was to return her there.

[SunkenCiv]

[Red Badger]

If it ain’t in the lease, you must release.....................

[Dr. Franklin]

If it ain’t in the lease, you must release.....................

It's maritime law, so it's in federal court. It's all up to the judge. I doubt the judge will find that the lease was valid in perpetuity, so that it couldn't be terminated at some point, or the owner of the pier couldn't adjust the price for inflation. The compromise could be that the ship leaves the pier in exchange for the pier releasing its claim against the ship. The ship still needs a place to go, and a way to get there since its now lacks its own propulsion and could be considered a derelict if just moored somewhere in the Delaware.