According to the Conservancy, the gentleman has not been in touch with them or the new owners.

~Wesley

When last we heard of this ship she was to be towed to Mobile Ala, to be prepared for her next career ad a reef. She was to be moved in November but things happened.

She is, of course, still moored at Pier 82 South, Philadelphia.

A $100,000 penalty came up and the Florida County paid it. The US Coast Guard has gotten involved with more inspections and paperwork.

Someone suggested the ship wouldn't clear the Walt Whitman Bridge, which is downstream of the ship but she cleared it going inbound and neither the bridge nor channel has moved and the ship has not grown.

And you thought steam locomotives were expensive.

Phil Mulligan

Been hearing that the Coast Guard is also worried the hull won't make the trip.
What a shame it'd be if the thing foundered and sank en route in deep water.

Perhaps enough metal has been stripped from the ship to cause it to ride higher in the water. Seems far-fetched.

The interior was cleared out before she went upstream to Pier 82S.

The hull is another story. She was built to USN Specifications so her hull should be stronger than a fully civilian ship. USS New Jersey (BB-62) was recently drydocked for hull maintenance. She's 880 feet long while United States is 990 feet long, still within the capacity of the drydock. I don't know when or if the hull has been inspected since she was retired.

Could be the USCG has a point.

Phil Mulligan

BTW New Jersey is about 10 years older and her hull is in "excellent" condition,

And here in coastal Delaware we seem to have frequent gale warnings at Cape Henlopen where the ship will leave Delaware Bay to enter the open Atlantic.

~Wesley

These sound like rumors. The ACTUAL reason the Coast GuArd gave for the Order restricting it from leaving has NOTHING to do with the hull. There are qustions regarding liquid containment within the ship itself. They're worried about a storage tank becoming compromised and upon release of the liquid its storing causing the ship to become unstable since it has no form of self-propulsion or steering.

As stated here and in a few other articles not behind pay-walls:
https://delawarecurrents.org/2024/12/13 ... e-to-move/

"The Coast Guard conducted an independent stability analysis that found a “potentially compromised tank” in a port wing that “may also further impact the vessel’s stability and structural integrity.”

The order described the ship as presenting “a hazardous condition to the port and waterway” and added, “This vessel may not depart its current location without satisfactorily demonstrating to this office that it is safe to do so and that hazards to the waterway have been mitigated.”

The Coast Guard order cited “insufficient information” provided in a tow plan submitted by Okaloosa County. Nick Tomecek, a spokesman for the county, said there’s been no change in the order and that the county has hired an engineer “to study and collect data to ensure the stability of the ship.” Once gathered, that information will be filed with the Coast Guard, he said.

The order cited “the unknown condition of the vessel” and a “large amount of oily residue present” and required the county to prepare a report to account for, among other things: the ship’s watertight integrity and overall structural stability; identify what steps would be taken if its hull were compromised; identify ports of safe harbor along its route; relocate all large quantities of oil not stored in sealed tanks; and provide tugs of sufficient horsepower to control the ship’s movement.

The comprehensive report needs to be prepared by a marine salvor or a company experienced “in the assessment and towage of damaged or degraded vessels.”

Failure to comply with the order could result in penalties of up to $114,630 per day that the ship is in violation, the order said.

John,

Thank you for posting this information.

The concern expressed by the Coast Guard causes me to wonder if the ship is still carrying all or part of a load of bunker oil used in its boilers. What else would be stored on board in quantity to cause concern?

I guess I will be waiting awhile to see the ship pass by Cape Henlopen into the open Atlantic.

~Wesley

I work where the ship was last drydocked. BAE Systems Norfolk Ship Repair in Norfolk, Va. It was last drydocked in 1979 in Titan drydock (still in use) At that time the Shipyard was then known as Norshipco (Norfolk Shipbuilding and Drydock Corp) you can find pictures of it in the drydock from that time. Back then the hull was in excellent shape. After almost 45 years of storage and a couple trips back and forth across the Atlantic no telling what shape its in. Usually the worst rust is at the waterline. The USS Olympia also in Philly has this problem and hasn't been drydocked since the 1940's.