Final resting place set for the historic SS United States to become an artificial reef off Florida

A historic ocean liner will become the world s largest artificial reef after it s sunk off Florida s Gulf Coast early next year Okaloosa County authorities released Tuesday that they expect to sink the SS United States in early about nautical miles kilometers southwest of Destin and nautical miles kilometers southeast of Pensacola The nearly -foot -meter vessel which shattered the trans-Atlantic speed record on its maiden voyage in has spent greater part of this year at the Port of Mobile in Alabama being scoured to remove chemicals wiring plastic and glass Regional Partnership The ship s final location was selected as part of an agreement with Pensacola tourism representatives who are contributing million to the project and Coastal Conservation Association Florida which is kicking in another Administrators had been considering two other locations including one that would have placed the ship further east and closer to Panama City Beach This collaboration will foster amazing adventures for generations of visitors and create a tourism business activity that will benefit the state and the entire Northwest Florida region Okaloosa County Board Chairman Paul Mixon mentioned in a declaration The contributions will be used to transform the SS United States into an artificial reef and finance a multi-year marketing campaign The deal is part of Okaloosa County s million plan to purchase move clean and sink the ship which includes million toward a onshore museum to promote the ship s history Once in place the SS United States will sit at a depth of about feet meters but the vessel is so tall that the top decks will be about feet meters from the surface making it attractive to both novice and experienced divers The artificial reef will also be about nautical miles kilometers away from to the USS Oriskany another popular dive destination that was sunk in The SS United States is set to join Okaloosa County s more than artificial reefs which include a dozen smaller ship wrecks The transformation of the SS United States into the world s largest artificial reef creates a rare opportunity to elevate our entire region on the global stage declared Darien Schaefer president and CEO of Visit Pensacola The new artificial reef will provide essential marine life habitat which prompted Coastal Conservation Association Florida to make its largest donation in the organization s -year history It is truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to contribute to the creation of the world s largest artificial reef CCA Florida Executive Director Brian Gorski announced in a report Long Journey The SS United States arrived in Alabama at the beginning of March following a -day tow from Philadelphia s Delaware River where it has spent nearly three decades Okaloosa County took ownership after a years-old rent dispute was resolved last October between the conservancy that oversees the ship and its landlord Various groups have attempted to restore the SS United States over the years but all plans were eventually abandoned because of the steep cost Of late increased media attention has generated more calls to preserve the ship and a group called the New York Coalition sued in Pensacola federal court asking a judge to halt sinking such a historically notable vessel But Okaloosa County functionaries have mentioned that preventing the SS United States from becoming a reef would only send it to the scrapyard The vessel which is more than feet meters longer than the RMS Titanic was once considered a beacon of American thousands of troops On its maiden voyage the ship reached an average speed of knots or just over mph kph The Associated Press stated from aboard The ship crossed the Atlantic Ocean in three days hours and minutes besting the RMS Queen Mary s time by hours To this day the SS United States holds the trans-Atlantic speed record for an ocean liner