SS United States....last days again?

[jingle5616]

It doesn't look good for this former NCL ship. NCL must be glad they aren't responsible for having to scrap an icon.

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/08/business/friends-of-the-ss-united-states-send-out-a-last-sos.html?ref=topics&_r=0

[legion3]

Unfortunately, the only likely outcome, given the condition of the ship.

 

The oldest steel warship also needs some help, far less $ needed but still...

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/news/2015/06/02/seaport-museum-olympia-restore-state-grant-wolf.html

[Sauer-kraut]

The S.S. United States was never an NCL ship. The S.S. Norway was the S.S. France in a former life and she is scrapped.

Edited October 8, 2015 by Sauer-kraut

[scottyo72]

NCL bought both the SS United States and the SS Independence. The stated plan was to restore both and use them in the NCL America Hawaiian fleet, since they were US built and eligible for the route. That never happened. Independence was sold for scrap. Due to her historic significance, NCL sold the United States at less than scrap value to the SS United States Conservancy for preservation and redevelopment as a static attraction. http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=2049

Edited October 8, 2015 by scottyo72

[steveweese]

Our first cruise was on the Independence. Fond Memories

[laurabegorrah]

The S.S. United States was never an NCL ship. The S.S. Norway was the S.S. France in a former life and she is scrapped.

 

From the article, sure sounds like it was. It was never actually put into service with NCL, but they did own her for a decade....

 

"After the 2001 terror attacks trimmed Americans’ appetite for travel abroad, the cruise operator NCL Group considered refitting the S.S. United States as a cruise ship for service around Hawaii. But that never happened.

 

Scrappers circled.

 

At the 11th hour, the conservancy in 2011 bought the ship from NCL with the help of a gift from Gerry Lenfest, a Philadelphia businessman."

[scottyo72]

Our first cruise was on the Independence. Fond Memories

 

Unfortunately, Indy did not end well.

 

http://maritimematters.com/2010/06/sad-endependence/

[CruisinMaterial]

As others have said, NCL did own the United States with the idea of putting her into service in Hawaii. I don't think she would have been up to today's standards for Hawaii service as more and more people want things that ocean liners never had (rock climbing, ropes courses, bowling, water slides, etc). The ship could have been re-done to include some of those features but she would have lost her exterior look.

 

It was unfortunate that NCL went too big too fast in Hawaii and it ultimately led the ship into some rocky times with the three ship deployment. However, NCL did do the right thing and try and preserve the ship by selling it to the conservancy for less than value. Now it's on the conservancy if they scrap it.

 

I hope a suitable buyer can be found for her but I don't see her ever plying the ocean waters again with passengers onboard. It's just too expensive.

 

Make me wonder what ever happened to the Titanic 2 project as well... :cool:

[Molokai-Chuck]

I am a follower that NCL bought the Indy and the SS United States ....both of which were American flagged... to prevent anyone else from having an American Flagged ship in the USA, in the near future. They never planned to re-fit either for service.

[CruisinMaterial]

I am a follower that NCL bought the Indy and the SS United States ....both of which were American flagged... to prevent anyone else from having an American Flagged ship in the USA, in the near future. They never planned to re-fit either for service.

 

That's a possibility. However, it is known somewhere that NCL (under the direction of Star Cruises at the time) commissioned several design studies and there's over a hundred boxes of blueprints of the SS United States somewhere that NCL did pay for. If their intent was to leave her sitting around to stop competition, that was quite the costly venture for doing so. :cool:

[CruisinMaterial]

In a bit of off-topic news... some of the SS United States is on the Celebrity Infinity in their specialty restaurant that shared the SS United States name. Now Celebrity announced they're re-furbishing the Infinity again and taking out the SS United States restaurant. While they claim to be preserving the artifacts from the ship in another location on the ship, it's just another death blow to this great ship. :(

[barnacle_boy]

That's a possibility. However, it is known somewhere that NCL (under the direction of Star Cruises at the time) commissioned several design studies and there's over a hundred boxes of blueprints of the SS United States somewhere that NCL did pay for. If their intent was to leave her sitting around to stop competition, that was quite the costly venture for doing so. :cool:

 

 

Studies and plans would be useful for long term layup as well. Either way, those costs would pale in comparison to the millions that are spent annually to keep her at that berth in Philadelphia. It's standard practice in this industry to buy resources, sometimes entire cruise lines, to eliminate the competition. NCL was also less than neighborly when they tried to use their influence to get CBP to reinterpret the PVSA to shut down competing Hawaii cruises departing from California.

 

As far as feasibility goes, who knows? She would have required tugs at all ports, which would have cost a fortune. The flip side is that Pride of America, a podded ship with a reasonable amount of power for her size, also needs tugs for half the ports she visits. Winds in Hawaii are often near the max threshold for maneuvering safely. Since she would be in port everyday, there's also not much need for onboard gimmicks. The biggest hurdle to overcome would be the severe lack of balcony cabins. Decks could be added to resemble SS Norway after her early-90s rebuild, but that would only help so much.