Caution is more appropraiate than the word optimism. Lets not sit back for a moment. Lets drive ahead at full steam. I see this as a goodwill gesture. BUT, I think the market is limited to a few, and the scrap dealers are very anxious. Perhaps they will use a third party to aquire Mr. Gibbs baby. A middleman who will act as a broker. Just give the ship to the conservancy, and take the deduction. That is a real ironclad gesture. This would go a long way in repairing hard feelings about the Independence and the Norway. It also has great advertising value for NCL/Star Cruises. Happy people tell SOME that they are happy. Unhappy people tell ALL why they are upset.

I definitely afree with Ed Bennett’s post that caution is more appropraiate word than optimism. Although the SS United States has been listed with a Florida ship brokerage company, I’ll bet Star/NCL still owns her. Let us not forget that Star/NCL also owned the SS Norway. She was towed to Germany “for repairs” and ended up being scrapped at Alang, India. Also remember the SS Independence. In February 2008 on a foggy morning, she was quietly towed out of San Francisco. Where she went is anybodys guess. She was loaded with toxic material. Numerous Federal Agencys made efforts to find her. Its like she fell off the the planet. I’d suspect that by now she has been scrapped. Yes my friends CAUTION and HOPE are probably the best words to be used as far as the SS United States is concerned.

This ship can be bought for a few million! It can be done and its not hopeless. A few wealthy, patriotic donors and it can get done! Who on the board is approaching people? How organized of a campaign is there to do so? Is Walter Cronkite approaching his wealthy friends?

Thanks.

OK people: Do NOT believe anything promised by Star. These are the same people who hoodwinked the US Congress into thinking they would create a cruise line to employ US workers; and save both the Independence and the SSUS. Where is the Indy? Alang. What did they do with the Norway after promising not to break any laws: she’s now part of a zillion concrete retaining rods in India. The plans had SSUS crusing by now.

WAKE UP SSUS Conservancy – these are proven snake business people worse than our own AIG and will for sure dump the Great Lady no matter what they say. VIGILANCE!

You sat by while many warned two years ago as they farsically and illegally did in the Norway, and they will stop at nothing to ruin the SSUS. WE MUST MOVE NOW.

The only good news is that she won’t be quietly towed away in the dead of night. She’ll have to be floated off the mud and then weighted enough to clear the Walt Whitman Bridge. What if the Federal Government bought the ship and the Conservancy provided money and volunteers to restore her to a condition where she could be toured?

I am somewhat relieved that the terms of sale have been altered. The SSUS is in my opinion the last truly beautiful ships left in the world. Ever since I was a kid ( I’m just a young-un at 31) I’ve been fascinated by classic cruise ships.

I will admit my own ignorance, but make some suggestions anyway. I’ve been watching the state of disintegration of the SSUS for years, and it seems to me that hardly anything has been done even on the most rudimentary level. It doesn’t help that the ship resides in a harsh, Northeastern region either. I realize that since it is owned by a private firm, sinking any money into it is impossible. But as the ship becomes less and less attractive, it likely leads some to conclude that it is in too horrendous of a condition to preserve. Again, I admit that I am grossly simplifying.

But perhaps there are ways to preserve the ship with limited funds. For example, I live in Alameda, CA. Moored at the nearby now closed naval base is the USS Hornet, a WW2 era aircraft carrier. Almost all of the staff are volunteers. The majority of the restoration work is carried out by local volunteers as well. Of course many are those who either served on the Hornet, or served in the navy to some capacity. Thus there is a personal connection to the ship. Thus perhaps ways need to be found to bring that same level of personal attachment to the SSUS. It is, after all, a Navy ship to a larger degree. Secondly, how accessible is the SSUS? Perhaps where it resides now isn’t conducive for public access and thus presenting an easier method to volunteer. Perhaps there would be value in finding another area for it to reside where it gets more public exposure so the public would be encouraged to participate.

At the very least, somehow that ship needs to get some sort of cosmetic lift somehow. I have no idea how that could be possible given the huge amount of paint that would require.

The ss united states must be saved and will fill the void left by QE2. It will be hugely profitable. Where are you Richard Branson ?

TO correct Pat, the Independence did not go to Alang, she is in Dubai, and was sold, and approved by MARAD to become a workers accommodation ship in the Arabian Gulf. She is by no means out of the woods yet, but in a better position then she was in February of 2008

And I agree, a Volunteer effort to partly restore the ship would be attractive to investors. I have actually contacted the Friends of the Cumbras and Toltec, but need to get back to them, about how to organize an effort to say, repaint the ships funnels. How attractive would she look with her Funnels repainted to glossy red white and blue?

I think it would make a world of difference.

Cairngorm Entertainment Group, a Las Vegas entertainment company, is talking of restoring the Queen Mary and returning her to sea service. Robert Sides III is the President of that company. Perhaps the Conservancy could approach Mr. Sides about shifting his focus to the United States?

In these times of economic turmoil, in these times of uncertainty in these recent years Americans have lost their focus, lost their faith in those institutions that were founded to protect them. The honor of that great country; The United States of America, tainted and tarnished. When the greatest label any product-any item could ever aspire to wear was: “MADE IN USA “, now hardly anything worth owning by a private citizen is ever so honored. Almost everything is taken off-shore. We have been downturned,downsized,downtrodden.

This example of what was once the greatest technological expression of a free and great society that lead the way against the world threat of totalitarianism stands alone.

Alone. After decades of passing from owner to owner slightly less than what she was before. Stripped of all her adornments.
She still stands alone, in the glory of her nakedness. A shining beacon as a reminder of what this country and its people once were; Proud of an indomitable spirit that helped free the world and now were ready to go to the moon and beyond. Nothing was impossible. Shall we forget now, that message?

Americans, let us take-up that message and prepare for the next generations of Americans and of the World.

Let us take-up a collection and make her once again a showcase of what this country is and what the people of this country can do. Make her the ambassador to the world of what a freedom loving people are capable of doing in a free society. Let’s show the world the greatest technology, the greatest medal to place upon any item is still “Made In USA”.

Can we not speak to the Bill Gates, The Google founders, the Hewletts and the Packards, the Steve Jobs, the great Barons of Technology and American Industry and the American people at large to dig into their pockets and contribute to the resurrection of an icon that served us so well back then.

A people will be judged not only by how they treat the icons that are bestowed upon them such as the Statue of Liberty but also by the icons and what they created. How can America abandon what is considered the greatest technological creation on the high seas of the 20th century? Let her be the new floating Statue of Liberty, a mobile technological showcase of what Americans can do, of what it is to be American. Let her bring the message of Freedom and Democracy and its advantages to all the world.

Sincerely,

Mario Lecce
passenger of Dec. 1953

In my view I think it’s unrealistic to think that the proud old lady can be returned to service, her draft is too deep, her huge engine can’t be used and have to be converted to deisel and the cost a fortune, and not suited for todays cruising. HOWEVER, I don’t see why she can’t remade into a hotel just like The Queen. Think about it we have the Intrepid in New York city, Why can’t she rebuilt and convert her to a luxury hotel and birthed in New York City, can you imagine how many tourist would want to go and stay on her!!! Have shuttle to the subway via the Airport get rid of the obsolete engine rooms put in more state rooms, hold conventions and tours and why a borad way style theater, four star dining, the list can do on on,she could be real $$$$$ maker. I can’t think of any better way to display her and do her justice, you need a good business person behind the idea and there is no way that she wouldn’t be profitable. People spend $300 to $500 to stay at boring Hilton!! Don’t get me wrong it’s wonderful to preserve her but you need to make her profitable as well, it’s all about the dollar if we want to save her. It’s not rocket science!!! Get it together.

In my view I think it’s unrealistic to think that she can be returned to service, her engines are obsolete, draft too deep and just not designed for todays crusing and would cost an absolute fortune. HOWEVER we have the Intrepid in New York City. Why can’t we have a luxury hotel called THE UNITED STATED, birth her on the Hudson and take out the engine rooms put in convention centers, have tours resturants broad way style theaters. People pay $300 to 500 to stay at a boring Hiliton Hotel you can’t tell me that she wouldn’t be profitable!! Have shuttles to the subway via the airport. This is not rocket science, you just need a business person behind it all. Preservation is wonderful but you need to make $$$ as well. Get it together!!!

I doubt the SSUS will have any future other than a date with the shipbreaker. Some posit that she could be restored as an attraction. I was onboard the ship in the early part of the decade. Aside from the engine rooms, she is an empty tin can. The bridge is stripped clean. The accommodation decks have no more cabins. I suppose if someone wanted to turn her into a hotel, they could rebuild her interior to whatever they wanted, but with the economy and tourism industries in shambles, it is hard to envision anyone making that kind of financial commitment.

I TRULY BELIEVE THE THE BIG U WILL NEVER SAIL AGAIN AS A CRUISE SHIP . THE BIG U AS A HOTEL CONVENTION CENTER IN SOME BIG PORT CITY IS THE ONLY WAY TO GO.IF NOT SHE WILL GO THE WAY OF ALL BIG TIRED SHIPS THE BREAKERS JUST LIKE THE NORWAY/FRANCE AND THE INDEPENDENCE . THE PRICE FOR A HOTEL COMPLEX WILL BE VERY BIG AT LEAST 100 MILLION AND WHAT EVER THEY DO DON’T LET BUILDING DESIGNERS AT THE SHIP LIKE THEY DID WITH THE QUEEN WHICH WOUND UP BRAKING THE SHIPS BACK. TO PUT THE SHIP IN NEW YORK IS A SEMI GOOD IDEA BUT WITH ALL THE HOTELS AND CONVENTION ROOMS AVAILABLE TO KEEP HER FULL OR EVEN PAY FOR HER SELF WOULD AT LEAST BE A UPHILL BATTLE
SHE NEEDS TO GO TO A SOUTHERN SETTING BUT NOT FLORIDA OR THE GULF STATES WHERE SHE WOULD BE OPEN FOR BAD AND COSTLY STORMS. THE MID ATLANTIC FROM MARYLAND DOWN TO THE CAROLINAS OR THE WEST COAST BUT THE WEST ALREADY HAS THE QUEEN . THIS IS A IDEA NOT THE ONLY IDEA !
CMDR GREG MICHAEL USCG RETIRED

Don’t discount the opportunity to remake her into a floating hospital/liner and use her as a goodwill ambassador to countries around the world. She could deliver HIV meds to Africa and medical supplies to Iraq or Afganistan.

Here is a situation. Let’s suppose someone purchases the vessel. Then after this person purchases the vessel he takes the sales contract to court for the rights to do as he pleases.In other words to void the terms of contracts of the sale. A j–k@$$ judge rules in his favor. He then turns around and sells the ship to Sadjay Metha for a profit. Do you know who Sadjay Metha is? Have you ever heard of Parira (sp?) Blue scrap firm of Alang, India? They are the ones who purchased the Norway. Where is the Norway now?
There are plenty of judges who are willing to make that ruling. As for a hotel ship,if it becomes a hotel ship in a foreign country such as Australia,Great Britain, or Japan, as long as they do not scrap the stacks, I can accept it.

I am in total agreement that this great ship should be saved. I do not agree that her engines should be removed. Her engines made her the historic ship that she is. Without her engines The SS United States would no longer be the fastest ship in the world. Removing the engines would essentially turn her into a barge. Her engines should be removed only to install more efficient power plants of equal or more power.This would maintain her position in history. Would her use as a floating hotel be profitable? From what I have read the Queen Mary is not very profitable. Casino? Is this the apropriate use for a ship of state? Would you take school children down to the docks to see and tour the worlds fastest casino? She needs to go to sea. How about a floating hotel and confrence center that goes to sea every couple months. At record speed of course.

Why couldn’t some Powerball or other lottery funds be directed toward the conservancy? Make it a museum of transportation, event rental space, destination restaurant, and yes maybe even a casino. Something to make it self-sustaining, and a public venue. If it could make money as a cruise ship and pay back the investment in refurbishing, it would probably already be doing just that – but even then it wouldn’t be accessible to anyone but people buying a cruise ticket. Call it the Cronkite Museum of 20th Century United States. Talk to the Smithsonian – hey they got that second air and space museum near Dulles built somehow! And it rocks (not sure if it sustains itself — but what a collection!) Hell, ask Steve Wynn to buy it — he could do this to save money on his divorce settlement – and he does do really nice work with ‘experiential’ spaces. $20 mil to him is cabfare….C’MON PHILLY BLUEBLOODS — WHERE ARE ALL THE RICH PEOPLE IN THIS FIGHT???

Nothing’s going to come of any of this. She’ll continue to be listed for sale and then when no buyers turn up (who can afford her these days), the owners will announce that since no buyers are interested, they have no alternative but to sell her for scrap. They could, as one person points out, donate her to the conservancy group, but what could they do with her? they don’t have the money to restore her let alone maintain her once she’s back in shape. Groups have tried to turn old liners into hotels, casino ships, etc. and never with any luck. How many times has the ownership of the Queen Mary changed hands?

She’s like that 20 year old horse you love and that horse has a broken leg. You don’t try and save the horse because you know its useless. And you don’t let the horse suffer so you uthanize the horse. This ship is suffering and weathering away. Take her to sea and put her under. No one profits from her either. By the way, I traveled on her in 1959 from England to NY and it was incredible.

I tend to agree that some type of permanently moored hotel/museum/conference center seems to be the only financially feasible alternative for this great lady, at least for the foreseeable future. Several of the ‘big boy’ cruise line operators have scaled back or cancelled new ship orders so is it realistic to think the SS United States would make a go at it in that extremely competitive market? Here’s a thought. Has the SSUS Conservancy considered approaching the two casino companies now breaking ground for casinos along the Delaware River waterfront in Philadelphia and floating (pun intended) the idea of purchasing and restoring the United States as a hotel/conference center next to their casino? Both operators have long range plans for large scale hotels as part of their projects. Think of the marketing possibilities it could create for both the ship/hotel and the casino operator. Each would draw patronage to each other. The land based casino would draw customers to the ship/hotel and the ship would draw customers to the land based casino! This is something that the Queen Mary lacks in Long Beach, a major attraction to draw people to the ship/hotel.

My main interest is railroads and rail preservation but I am moved to comment because of the urgency of the situation with the SS United States. A previous post mentioned the Cumbres & Toltect Scenic Railroad as a source of information on volunteer work in preservation of rail assets. I am familiar with the CATS & am on the board of the Colorado Railroad Museum. We use unpaid volunteers for virtually all the restoration work accomplished by our organization. The funding for this comes from private donations & some public subsidy. I have to think that a public /private partnership is the only viable plan to be able to save the SS United States. The hotel /casino use does not seem credible to me as a business plan at the present. Actually making the ship seaworthy also seems like a tantalizing dream but probably not realistic given the costs involved – unless the US Navy is involved in some way. I don’t see a private user who could make a profit running her – or it would have been done by now. There is a model for direct government involvement right in PA – Steamtown Railroad Museum. This came about because of the involvement of a local congressman and now Steamtown is run by the Park Service. Something similar could happen with the SS US with the right persuasion….what better use for tax money than saving the greatest ship ever built ?

SURELY THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS SHIP SPEAKS FOR ITSELF.ARE WE TO LET THIS SHIP,EVERY BIT THE EQUIVALENT OF THE QUEEN MARY,WHICH AS WE KNOW,HAS BEEN SAVED,A BEAUTIFUL SHIP IN HER OWN RIGHT,BUT,NOT AMERICAN.NOT ONLY THAT,SHE IS SAVED AND BIRTHED OVER HERE IN AMERICA.WE AS AMERICANS SHOULD DEMAND OF OUR GOVERMENT THAT THIS PIECE OF OUR HISTORY BE IN NO WAY SHAPE OR FORM BE SENT TO A SHIP BREAKER.IT SHOULD BE PROTECTED PERIOD UNTIL THIS BUSSINESS OF OWNERSHIP IS COMPLETED.OF CORSE WE COULD NOT ASK OUR GOVERNMENT TO DO THIS FOR US OUT RIGHT,SAVE,AND PRESERVE THIS VESSEL,HEAVENS NO,IT’S NOT HELPING ANOTHER COUNTRY,OR ANOTHER PEOPLE,AS IT IS SO WILLING TO DO WITH YOUR MONEY.ANYWAY,THATS MY SPIEL FOR BASHING OUR GREAT IF NOT DISSAPOINTING AT TIMES GOVERNMENT.HAVE SOME OF OUR RICHEST FOLKS,ENTERTAINERS AND SUCH,BEEN ASKED?BILL GATES COULD BUY THIS SHIP WITH WHAT HE LOOSES,OR GAINES EACH DAY WITH OUT BREAKING A SWEAT.I MAY BE FAR BEHIND THE TIMES AS TO WHAT HAS BEEN DONE.THERE ARE SO MANY CAUSES.BUT THIS IS SOMETHING THAT REPRESENTED THIS NATION,AND ITS PEOPLE ON A BIG SETTING.IT WAS KNOWN AROUND THE WORLD JUST BY SIGHT.DON’T LET WHAT HAPPENED TO USS ENTERPRISE,CV-6,THE MOST SIGNIFICANT WAR SHIP OF CONTEMPORARY TIMES,THE SS AMERICA,HOW SAD AN END,AND RECENTLY,THE USS AMERICA CV-66,HAPPEN TO THIS BEAUTIFUL GENTILE GIANT OF THE SEAS.AT THE VERY LEAST,DO WITH HER WHAT WAS DONE WITH THE GREAT QUEEN MARY.SS UNITED STATES IS WORTH SAVING…THANKS FOR LISTENING.

The problem is nobody will commit to anything because it is not economically profitable. What we are asking is for a community to take on a delicate work of art which will need alot of money for its care and preservation. Even if the entire project could be paid for by donations they realize it would have to be propped up financially by charity indefinately. The Queen Mary barely survives financially and this would be an even greater burden. NYC was once offered the Queen Elizabeth and refused and she was complete. It would be the bravest and greatest act of courage if NYC would say, yes, but money is far more important than grandiose ideals. Preserving art even as something functional like a hotel is a colassal commitment and lets face it this form of art is not important to enough people. Thats why I talk to anyone who will listen about our great cause. I just hope I meet Obama, Bill Gates, or Oprah but in upstate NY its unlikely.

Perhaps the best option for the Big U is to follow in the SS Rotterdams’ example:

http://www.aadhoogesteger.nl/bezoekssrotterdam/bezssrd300110pagina2.html

Don’t those Japanese IDIOTS know anything about her and her legacy? Do they want to mess with us again and start World-War-3? Another Pearl-Harbor but with our biggest and fastest superliner?

Sincerely,

Alex Chmelowitz(10) PLEASE RESPOND!!!!!!!!!!!

NCL dumped the Norway because it was ‘bleeding’ money. There’s little doubt that they would have run her longer except there poor maintainance on those old boilers basically killed her. Go read the NTSB report on the web. Those boilers where not designed to go from hot to cold and vice versa. Huge boilers that larg expand and contract- they are designed to do this, but normally the process takes hours, not minutes. Why did NCL do this? money- burned less fuel.

Once the explosion happened, the ship could stay in Miami because their terminals are needed to other ships. The cost of a re-power didn’t make sense, but after towing the Norway half way around the world, NCL paid more in legal fee, towing, and dockage than the scrappers paid.

The SS United States has advantages that the Norway did not.

1. her boilers have not been tortured through years of ’short-cycles’ and poor maintainance.

2. She is US built- other than national pride, this also means that this ship can make cruises in US waters without calling on international ports- a privilige which only US flagged vessels have. They could do New England in the summer, and Florida/ Gulf in the winter; or you can run San Diego to San Francisco -lots of options, but with terrorism and cost of foriegn travel creative domestic cruises have potenial- this is not a new argument- this was basically the pitch NCL made to Congress.

3. “Green Ship” – modern, high-tech powerplant burn Diesel fuel with computer controls and such. Boilers on the other hand can burn most anything from wood, to junk oil, to old newspapers, to pellets made from recycled trash, Ethanol, or Bio-Diesel. Certianly the ship would burn ‘junk oil’ when it is out to sea because it’s cheap, but near land- she could burn some sort of ‘Green’ fuel and make that part of her marketing.

4. Service – not rebuild. Look at ships like the France/ Norway. NCL completely changed the interior several times, because the cost of the interior is a small cost compared to refitting the engine room with modern Diesel electrics. My guess is that a crew of 30 engineerers could service and re-certify her boilers in six months, for a fraction of the cost which others are talking about. This ship was ‘laid up’, so proper procedures were taken to drain the fluids which would have rusted the heat exchangers and expansion tanks. Certainly there are going to be stuck values, bad ignitors, etc. – but this is the same type of equipment that heats old ‘raditor’ heaters in old buildings. Although a dying trade, there are thousands of guys that could do this work- not to mention many of the old manual gauges and values would be updated with modern sensors and solenoids, so that a much smaller crew would be required. NCL did this same ‘modernization’ to the Norways boilers.

5. Budget – utilizing the existing boilers, a refit could be done for 15 million or so, which is still a much of money, but is much more realistic than these people who are arguing that someone should sepnd 20x that amount. The only way she gets saved is if someone can make money with her. The hotel idea is not bad, but the space is small compared with modern ‘detsination’ hotels and the space to moor her is often crazy expensive; hence why this hasn’t happened yet. She’s too expensive to ’store’ just as a ‘landmark’- that’s why NCL is trying to sell her- she’s costing them about $25/month in dockage (according to the web) and she’s not sitting in downtown New York, Miami, New Orleans, San Diego, etc.

6. Cheap labor – if the Big U goes is towed overseas again, there is little hope she will return, but instead of having her refit in US waters, restore her boilers and run her to Mexico, Belize, or other Latin American countries where labor costs are much lower. It’s true that volunteers might do some work, but in order to be saved, she needs to be profitable; and very few muesems are profitable.

7. Donation – if NCL where to give away Big U, it still doesn’t help NCL unless the non-profit can afford to move her from her berth- if they couldn’t, she would be taken in a lien sale for dockage. In reality, NCL would likely sell the ship for far less than the cost
of moving her to (any) shipyard, so the question isn’t NCL, but a realistic plan to get her moved and at least two boilers running- my guess that could be done for 5 million. If she was floating, moving on her own power, and had a fresh coat of paint- it would be much easier to find investors…

In short, I guess the reason I decided to post is the Big U needs realistic plans by realistic people. Too many of the plans sound like Congress- they are ‘pie in the sky’ crazy plans. The question is how is this going to happen in the ‘real world’.

thx

First off,the Las Vegas group ‘claiming ‘ to re return the Queen Mary to the see if off thier rocker. Never happen. Only way that will ever happend is if she’s towed to Alang.

Second,if anyone has watched the movie,’A Lady in Waiting’,they would know that no shipyard wants anything to do with this ship.The ship is just too old with obsolete technology that nobody knows how to work on.

Third,the cost to restore the ship to see-worthyness including SOLAS regulations is much more than it would be for a new cruise ship. The passenger ocean-liner is a dying form of transportation,as the QM2 is the only one that I know of . They ‘cruise’ industry is already saturated with new,state of the art ships . Ships that are designed from the outset to have the ammenities passengers demand,nowadays.The SSUS is a dinosuar.

Fourth,a hotel option is not very likely,either. At least the Queen Mary was intact when she was sold to Long Beach. The QM is not very profitable,either. The cost to install a new interior and restore the exterior would be very hard to recoop as a hotel.Let alone the cost of real estate and docking.

Fifth,I think we all know NCL had no real intentions of returning her to the sea. The ship was just a ‘place marker’. A marker to get Congress to change the law about having US flagged ships operate to Hawaii.

Sixth,if all of the above ideas were such money makers,why has nobody done anything with her for over 40 years?

PLEASE SAVE THE S.S. UNITED STATES !!!! My father worked as “Chief Printer” aboard the SSUS right from the time of her maiden voyage until 1964 when he passed away. My mother and I were there on Pier 86 when the SSUS first arrived in NYC. What a magnificent sight !! I can still hear very clearly her horn blasts. I spent many many happy hours aboard her and have very wonderful memories of her. What a terrible shame to see her in her present condition. Something must be done to save her !!!! PLEASE DON’T LET THE VULTURES GET HER !! She is our “AMERICAN IDOL” and a symbol of our country and our American Pride. IN MY HEART SHE WILL LIVE AND SAIL FOREVER !!!!

I live in Philadelphia, and like many Philadephians we often see the Great Lady, prominent and hard to miss. And in OUR CITY, almost as if it’s our fault. But in fact, it’s a shame borne by all of us. How can we allow this great symbol of a great nation be allowed to rust and fade to nothingness? Considering the amount of money spent on truly frivolous projects, shouldn’t this icon of American capabilities be preserved, indeed returned to self-sustaining commercial service, with so many other passenger ships today? Should she ever see service again, I would be among the first to sign on! I am sending my contribution today.

If it had been feasible to do anything with this ship,it would have been done a long time ago. US labor costs are such that running it as a US-owned and operated cruise ship would be prohibitive; that’s what killed it in the first place in the 60’s and is the reason that there is only one US flagged cruise ship operating today (in Hawaii)as well as our out-moded laws in this regard. Everything else is made up of labor from overseas. Time to face reality people; it’s going nowhere except to a scrap yard. Don’t blame NCL. They’re an operation out to make a profit and the Norway had outlived its usefulness and wouldn’t have lived up to the 2010 SOLAS requirements anyway. I’m sure a couple of scrappers are probably in negotiation with NCL right now since this was announced in March. A year from now, it will probably all be a memory.

years ago i had a chance to go on the old girl one of the caretakers while she was berthed in newport news Va allowed myself and some others to have a tour of her although she had seen better days it was awespiring to stand in her engine room and look up into her stacks to see how many rooms she had and you could close your eyes and imagine her in her glory then as now she is not beyond help and restoring if every merchant marine out there active like myself or retired would donate even a few dollars to her it could NO WOULD be a reality of her being back to her once beautiful state mabe even reclaim the trophy she once held for so many years (” THE ABRAMS CUP”)lets get her back to sea and not just merchant marines all military give like i said even if just a few dollars lets help this once great and beautiful lady to sail again go to philly go aboard it will make you understand help her sail again

This whole thing about Robert Sides and The Island of Long Beach, the United States and The Queen Mary is NOT going to happen!! NEVER! Robert Sides has NOT been able to do anything like he says. The owners of the ships know Sides is full of something. He does not have any money, has stiffed everyone who has tired to help him AND if you look at his web site he must have a third grade level of english skills! He has bounced three dollar checks as well as numerous other checks. Sides thinks he can write a check for millions of dollars. Several people have done background checks on Sides. People know about his scams of the past. He has been called on the carpet for acts of fraud!!

I sailed on the big U twice in the sixties. I thought other ships, notably the Constitution and the Independence, were a lot nicer. The decor and the ambiance of the ship clearly leaned towards what her dual purpose was- troop carrier and passenger vessel. I hate to say it, but her time is over. Time moves on. Let her die peacefully.

It does amaze me how some people can write a lot but say nothing. Don’t talk about SOLAS if you aren’t prepared to cite a CFR and be more specific about what wouldn’t work. Don’t talk about an obsolete engine room if your not aware that a good portion of the US Merchant Marine is still riding on the same technology. Frankly, the SSUS, because of how it was originally constructed could realistically meet modern standards. Putting her to sea might not be the most realistic, or best, option but finding reasons why it won’t work certainly dosent solve
anything. With anything you need to think around problems.

I think that the most important focus needs to be the preservation of this ship, in one form or another. Hotel, museum, night club, or whatever I believe that she could be a profitable atraction suplimented by donations and grants. She is an important part of our national history and, speaking as a merchant mariner, our maritime history. Keep the focus on what will work and NEVER say that we should ever just let our history “die gracefully”. It is shameful to speak that way and it is certainly not the AmeriCAN way. I’m only 30 years old and I’ve loved the Big U since I first saw her picture as a child. Her and ships like her inspired me to go to sea in the first place and work my way up to master mariner. Nothing worth doing is ever easy and quitting never gets anything done. Keep the faith and always think positive!

Having read some of the posts here, I thought I would put the following points up for discussion.
Those of you who feel that she has had her time may be forgetting one thing.
As things age, they go through a period of being totally out of fashion only to become fashionable again due to their retro value. I drive a 70’s car and 10 years ago people used to laugh and make fun of it. Now I have young people coming up to me and saying how cool my car is and older people saying how they wish they had kept their one alive like I have. The Chrysler building is famous around the world for how lovely it looks. It probably is dated compared to new builds of today,but they will never be as famous.

The relevance of this to the SSUS is that as ship building ‘progresses’ ships are becoming more and more ugly. The latest NCL office block is just so ugly from any angle that I wouldn’t want to go on her no matter what is on offer.
The SSUS is a really lovely looking ship by comparison and economics aside, I feel she could have a following just for being so different from the office block ships.

As far as making her into some sort of floating hotel… this will not inspire people. It has been done before as we all know with the Queen Mary. A ship with no movement is not really a ship, just a monument. The SSUS will need to go one better and actually MOVE again to capture the imagination of a new generation.
A hotel would of course be better than ending up at Alang but…. A rebirth would make news around the world.
Finally, the world of ships is littered with stories of vessels that beat the odds. The France was never supposed to be a cruise ship. Cruise ships they used to say, needed to be small to be economic. How many 100,000 plus ton cruise ships are there out there now? The QE2 had diesel engines fitted. It can be done. Going one better was what she was famous for. Unique is what she could be.