SOS for faded liner – Is the SS United States headed for the scrap yards or will Philadelphia save her?

Philadelphia lunching Ikea shoppers have a view of the SS United States, at Pier 82 since 1996.

CRUISE SHIP HISTORY: SOS for faded liner – SOS for faded liner – Is the SS United States headed for the scrap yards or will Philadelphia save her?

Bill Clinton was in his first term as president when the peeling hulk of the SS United States was towed up the Delaware River for temporary moorage. The massive ocean liner has now idled in the shadow of the Walt Whitman Bridge for so long that its 12-story stacks are virtually part of Philadelphia’s skyline, hardly noticed by the thousands who drive overhead each day.

But the once-grand ship could soon slip away as quietly as it arrived.

Its owner, Star Cruises of Hong Kong, has put the vessel up for sale. Though the United States was the world’s fastest, and arguably most luxurious, liner when it made its maiden voyage in 1952, career prospects for middle-age ocean liners aren’t particularly bright these days.

“Scrap” gets mentioned a lot.

Check out full details at the SOS SS United States website by clicking here.