(PHILADELPHIA) — SS United States, a fixture on the Philadelphia waterfront, will leave the city permanently next week after nearly three decades in port, WHYY/NPR reported.
On Nov. 14, tugboats will cast lines to the former ocean liner to prepare to remove the ship from the dock in South Philadelphia, where it has resided since 1996.
After moving the ship to the north side of the slip, crews will wait for low tide to move the vessel into the Delaware River in the pre-dawn hours.
SS United States will then have to pass under the Walt Whitman, Commodore Barry and Delaware Memorial bridges before being moved out to the coast. Those bridges will be closed as the rusted and dilapidated liner makes its way south.
The ship is being moved to Mobile, Ala., where it will be prepped to become what officials say will be “the world largest artificial reef” off the Florida coast in about a year. The trip south is expected to take two weeks.
Efforts to preserve the ship never got enough traction to save it. In 2016, the Crystal Cruises luxury travel company announced plans to overhaul the ship at a cost of at least $700 million, but it never panned out.
In its 1950s prime, the ship set the record for fastest trans-Atlantic crossing and was known for luxury. It once transported royalty, celebrities and even the Mona Lisa. It will now become a tourist attraction for divers and habitat for underwater species.
