The public domain has been full of rumors the past month. None are based on Coalition insider info so it is impossible to validate authenticity. They include a return to sea with a presumption of government involvement, a Korean group scouting for a large ship to use as a floating hotel, private money looking for an initial purchase investment followed by fund-raising, refurbishment, and then return the ship to sea as… (a) a missionary ship, (b) a goodwill ship in US ports, (c) a museum ship and (d) any combination of the above. These rumors, (some echoing back to ideas floated in early seventies), seem to be driven by Star Cruises desire to have the SS United States off their books by the end of this tax year.
The Coalition has also been following the saga of the SS Independence, currently awaiting judgment day by the Indian authorities. There are many lessons learned here that will be drawn upon at the slightest hint of an attempt to tow the SS United States into international waters. Though the Big Us has had most of its asbestos removed, some remains in engineering areas. The ship also contains cabling made of PCBs which are toxic if improperly disposed of (such burning: A common third world scrapping technique). The EPA does not permit illegal export of toxic materials, but once in international waters (ala Independence) there is not much they can do to stop it. The Coalition is preparing an emergency action plan which takes all these lessons learned into consideration. At the slightest hint of an illegal sale, the Coalition will be knocking on the EPA and MARAD’s door.
The next general teleconference will occur Sunday November 15. More information is available at www.savethebigship.org .
Posted in Coalition News.
First item on this week’s agenda was to appoint a replacement chair for the coalition. Dan McSweeny has stepped down after being appointed as the Executive Director of the SS United States Conservancy. A vote was held and Bob Jones was elected as the new Coalition Chair. We wish Bob and Dan great success in their new roles!
More S.S. United States headlines appeared this month…this time literally, on the front page of the Wall Street Journal. According to Conservancy sources the article is raising awareness and there is great optimism it will attract investors and spur fund-raising efforts to save the ship.
News continues to be sparse about any pending sale of the United States. A source close to NCL has shared that there are parties with a genuine interest in purchasing and repurposing the ship, but could not comment further. Meanwhile officials in both New York and Philadelphia continue to express interest in having the refurbished ship in their respective ports.
On a side note, history continues to be made surrounding the Big U’s former NY pier 86 home: Next month, the USS New York will be commissioned during a week long ceremony next to the USS Intrepid. This promises to be a well attended, yet solemn event: The bow of the USS New York is cast from several tons of New York World Trade Center steel.
The next general teleconference will occur Sunday October 17. More information is available at www.savethebigship.org .
Posted in Coalition News.
The headline of the month, concerned Star Cruise’s press release officially transferring ownership of the S.S United States. Though this has been public knowledge since February, it is unsettling to see ownership transfer from a US based headquarters, to one in Hong Kong. This may be nothing more than a corporate restructuring, dissolving NCL’s “Maritime Investment Incorporation” (legal owner of the S.S. United States under NCL) into the Star Cruises fold. It remains unknown, however, if the ship’s US Coast Guard Registration (last expiration date July 2009) has been renewed. The Coalition is monitoring these activities very closely so we can plan, prepare and respond appropriately.
The Coalition has merged its Tuesday and Sunday meetings and now meets bi-weekly. The meetings retain the same format/agenda, with the Conservancy’s New York City and Philadelphia working groups now reporting progress each meeting.
Another screening of “Lady in Waiting” will take place on Wednesday, 26 August, at 7 p.m. in the Philadelphia Independence Seaport Museum. The event is free and open to the public.
The next general teleconference will occur Tuesday September 1. More information is available at www.savethebigship.org .
Posted in Uncategorized.
Discussions the last two weeks focused on development of four working groups to support home ports in the current target cities of New York, Philadelphia, Washington D.C. and Miami. More cities will be added should new opportunities arise. The Business Development Group would be folded into each of the city groups. Legislative will transition into a fifth working group, to cover electoral issues and legal concerns. The Legislative group will provide local and state information to related city groups, and federal information to all city groups.
This reorganization does not alter current coalition initiatives, but re-aligns functions to enable more efficient utilization of our limited volunteer resources.
Some activity is getting close to the point where professional marine architectural renderings may be necessary. In such cases the coalition will work closely with existing 501C organizations, which are better suited for large scale outreach and fund-raising efforts. One such event is being held by the SS United States Conservancy on July 31 at the Philadelphia IKEA.
The next general teleconference will occur Tuesday July 21. More information is available at www.savethebigship.org .
Posted in Uncategorized.
This synopsis summarizes coalition meeting minutes for June 30, 2009.
Initial discussion focused on the Cruise ship Oceanic, recently detained by the US Coast Guard for a small crack in the hull and some 15 other lifesaving, fire fighting, safety, and maintenance deficiencies. The ship had to be dry docked and repaired before the Coast Guard approved her departure from New York. This is relevant to the S.S. United States, only to make us all aware of issues that need to prepared for and mitigated before any move takes place. Though any pre-renovation moves would be sans passengers, an abundance of US Coast Guard regulations still apply to the ship and any vessels that tow her.
Further attention was focused on potential berthing sites near Washington D.C at the Anacostia Riverfront and National Harbor. On the plus side, both sites are undergoing significant redevelopment efforts. On the minus side, there may be monumental logistics issues including shallow water and low bridges.
An update on the Conservancy’s Legislative Working Group was also presented. The consensus is that we are at a juncture where it is time to reach out to key legislators for support. The goal is to appoint a lead for each focus location and invite as many constituents as possible to call their legislators. It was cautioned that we develop a single well structured message to keep any communications clear and synchronized.
The next general teleconference will occur Tuesday July 7. The Business Development committee meets again on Sunday July 12. More information is available at www.savethebigship.org .
Posted in Uncategorized.
This synopsis summarizes coalition meeting minutes for June 09, 16 and 23.
On June 16, three coalition members attended a presentation by the Delaware River Waterfront Corporation in Philadelphia. The meeting provided valuable insight into existing waterfront development plans. It boosted our Philadelphia proposal activities by providing detailed direction on how to proceed and what multijurisdictional authorities we need to interact with.
Foremost, in the last few weeks, were Coalition preparations to support the Conservancy’s June 16 meeting with New York City officials. Following our first hard and fast proposal deadline, we were pleased when the Conservancy reported a successful meeting. More follow-ups are likely, with City Officials continuing to express interest in returning the S.S. United States to her home port. Officials also helped narrow down our list of potential berthing locations to those most likely to support a revenue producing venture.
Recent internal Coalition discussions have focused on firming up the role of the Coalition in respect to relationship’s with other organizations, particularly existing 501(c)3’s. It was agreed that the mission of the Coalition would be to act as a “research and information resource” for the ongoing efforts to pursue a re-purposing of the ship. This could include vetting ideas proposed by members of the public at large, work on business proposals, and any number of other efforts.
The next general teleconference will occur Tuesday June 30. The Business Development committee meets again on Sunday July 5. More information is available at www.savethebigship.org .
Posted in Uncategorized.
The Business Development (BD) Committee continues full bore, expediting completion of its first proposal to support the SS United States Conservancy’s anticipated meeting with New York City officials.
At their Sunday meeting the BD Committee also viewed satellite photographs of potential S.S. United States berths in NYC, Philadelphia, and Miami. A scale image of the Big U was superimposed in the locations capable of accommodating the largest passenger liner ever built in America.
Another CSSSUS member has made contact with supporters considering a possible Potomac birth near Washington D.C.
Some supporters ask us why we are not aggressively targeting potential investors or announcing investor conversations that have occurred. The answer is two-fold: 1. We respect the fact that investors typically prefer not to be identified until they have definitized a formal contract. 2. We have continually been reminded of past lessons learned in similar ventures: “Get the sequence right” – Develop use strategies, find ports and then pursue the investors. The Coalition seeks to make it easy for those investors to know what their options are with facts and figures supporting end-uses, dry-docking, retrofit costs, potential berthing locations and revenue generating possibilities for the ship.
The Business Development committee meets again on Sunday June 7. The next general teleconference will occur Tuesday June 9. More information is available at www.savethebigship.org .
Posted in Uncategorized.
Eleven participants joined in the May 26, 2009 CSSSUS conference call following a very eventful weekend.
A panel discussion at Saturday’s SS United States Conservancy Annual meeting in New York, included four Coalition members discussing various options for the ship. Options included last week’s announcement of interest by New York city officials and ongoing plans for Philadelphia. During the open forum portion of the meeting, another individual discussed the idea of bringing the ship to Miami.
The Coalition Face-to-Face on Sunday was also very productive. The six attendees were able to estimate the amount of usable, covered space on six decks of the ship (B deck and above as initial basis of estimates) with additional spaces to be evaluated later. This information, is invaluable in forecasting refurbishment costs. It will be combined with other primary costs, such as purchase price, movement of the ship, dry-docking to assess condition, etc., in providing potential buyers with accurate and useful facts, figures and data.
The Business Development committee meets at its regular time on Sunday May 31. The next general teleconference will occur Tuesday April 2. More information is available at www.savethebigship.org .
Posted in Uncategorized.
Nine participants joined in the May 19, 2009 CSSSUS conference call.
Highlighting the meeting was news that the Conservancy has met with officials in New York and there seems to be very preliminary interest in looking at ways the ship could come to New York City. Ongoing talks by the Conservancy and these officials will help determine next steps.
The Coalition stands ready to support by offering our proposal to the Conservancy. The modular format we voted on weeks ago, makes tailoring for a specific port relatively simple. Though we will temporarily emphasize NYC, we will not divert attention away from other prospects and remain ready to respond to all promising requests.
The next general teleconference will occur May 26 and will include updates on the Coalition Face to Face meeting held this weekend in NYC. More information is available at www.savethebigship.org .
Posted in Coalition News.
Tagged with Add new tag.
Eleven participants joined in the May 12, 2009 CSSSUS conference call. Additional weekly conference calls continue being held at the Legal & Governmental Affairs and Business Development Committee level.
Of interest was an unverified report in www.Maritimematters.com announcing that the SS United States is “inspectable” along with terms of sale and an asking price of $5 million. It goes on to state that sale is restricted to U.S. citizens or U.S. entity buyers and mentions that the vessel is currently registered in the National Registry of Historic Places.
Last weekend’s face-to-face meeting in Philadelphia was very fruitful as members introduced and refined key portions of the coalition’s proposal. We hope to replicate that success with another face-to face in New York on May 24. The coalition is striving for a finished product by next month…not an easy task when the subject at hand is a complex 990 foot long self contained city!
Two coalition members will be panelists at the May 23 Conservancy meeting, also in New York.
The next general teleconference will occur May 19. More information is available at www.savethebigship.org .
Posted in Uncategorized.