By Nicole Breskin
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
CHELSEA — Local activists fear their dream of bringing a historic ocean liner to the Manhattan waterfront could be sinking, following news that the ship’s owner is accepting offers from scrap yards.
Norwegian Cruise Line has been trying for more than a year to sell the SS United States — which took its maiden voyage in 1952 and once carried Marilyn Monroe, Harry Truman and Salvador Dalí — but gave preference to a local preservation entity.
Now rumors are flying that a sale to an overseas scrapper is imminent, with Norwegian Cruise Line shareholders growing tired of footing an annual $800,000 bill in upkeep costs. Meanwhile, preservationists have sought to raise money to purchase the multimillion-dollar ship that is currently docked in Philadelphia.
“The situation is extremely dire with the SS United States,” said Dan McSweeney, executive director of the SS United States Conservancy. “We will do all we can, and then some, to prevent the loss of this irreplaceable national treasure.”
McSweeney, an Upper West Side resident whose father was a crewmember on the ship during its 17-year run, said he recently learned that the cruise line is currently accepting bids from scrappers.
He has appealed to both Community Board 4’s waterfront committee and the city's Economic Development Corporation in hopes of bringing the ship to Manhattan’s waterfront as a stationary attraction. But McSweeney now believes he only has days left to turn the tide before the ship gets turned into razor blades.
AnneMarie Mathews, director of public relations for Norwegian Cruise Lines, said the company would sell the ship to the SS United States Conservancy or another buyer who would focus on preservation, but time and money are running out.
“We have continued discussions with the SS United States Conservancy, but to date they have not made an offer to purchase the ship,” she said. “Therefore, we continue to seek alternative arrangements with the intent of selling the vessel to a suitable buyer.”
The SS United States was designed as a warship but operated as a luxury ocean liner until 1969, when the airplane became the primary mode of trans-Atlantic transportation. The 990-foot-long vessel once held the record for fastest trip across the Atlantic Ocean — three-and-a-half days.
The SS United States Conservancy launched an emergency fundraising campaign called “Save Our Ship." The conservancy is also holding a call-to-action event on March 11 at the National Academy of Design on the Upper East Side.
"There's a reason why this ship is still with us,” said Susan Gibbs, the conservancy's board president, whose grandfather, William Francis Gibbs, designed the vessel. “She absolutely must be saved for future generations."
Dan Trachtenberg, chairman of another boat-backing group called the SS United States Foundation, hopes the groups can save the ocean liner.
“We’re strategizing and scrambling to explore what options we have, as our biggest obstacle is money,” Trachtenberg said. “It would be a major travesty to lose the ship because it’s one of a kind: Nothing has been built like it, and there’s no capability to build a ship like it in the future. Once it’s gone, that’s it.”
