[rottndog]

Dollar for dollar it would probably be cheaper in the long run to start new.

This is why the US Navy is constantly replacing ships...they have a limited lifespan. At a certain point, it just becomes uneconomical to repair/refurbish/upgrade existing ships. So much maintenance is required to keep a ship operational in such a corrosive environment...and it will always be a losing battle.

And then as technology changes and improves...it's easier and cheaper to adapt it to new construction than retrofit to existing platforms...

Same reason the Iowa class battleships will never sail again. Wonderful ships, but the cost of bringing them out of obsolescence would be ludicrously high.

[ROCKLOBSTER]

So much maintenance is required to keep a ship operational in such a corrosive environment.

They should make them out of plastic.

[scouter]

My. Father worked for many year formUnited StatesLines, the owners of the SS United States. I sent him the article and this is what he wrote beck to me:

The USL Chief Engineer who monitored and supervised the construction of the US was a friend of mine. He was heart broken when the ship was laid up. He told me that when it was returned to the Government (MARAD I presume) they drained the entire hot water heating system. As a result, within a year all the washers throughout the ship were dried up and that it would be economically impossible to ever restore the ship to service for that reason alone. There have been repeated efforts to re-examine the situation but they are up against a stone wall, and all their efforts have been for naught. Complicating the situation is an asbestos problem. Scrapping it in the US may be impossible and the only alternative may be to tow it to India where they have no constraints. That will cost money too and the ship is in private hands. The architects family is involved and I guess they just don’t know what to do.

An interesting problem. If only they had kept water in the pipes and heat in the hull success would have come long ago.