A federal district judge in Philadelphia ordered the nonprofit organization that owns the SS United States and its landlord to head to mediation to resolve the long-running dispute about berthing fees.
Judge Anita Brody in her order on the dispute said there was no reason the proposed sale of the historic ship should not proceed.
Friday’s rule came about after the SS United States Conservancy filed a last-minute urgent motion asking the court to delay its order until Dec. 5 to evict the liner from its pier in Philadelphia.
Penn Warehouse & Distribution, the landlord, requested the matter be resolved in mediation, rather than continue into a fourth court battle. The proposed buyer Okaloosa County, Fla., agreed to having the court-appointed mediator handle the case, according to Maritime Executive.
In the last-minute filing, the conservancy claimed Penn Warehousing blocked the nonprofit’s sale of the liner to take over ownership of the ship itself. After becoming the owner, it would sell the ship for its “own financial benefit.” The eviction was scheduled to occur on Sept. 12.
What set all this in motion was Brody’s June ruling ordering the ship’s eviction if back rent was not paid. In August 2021, Penn Warehousing doubled the ship’s daily dockage to $1,700, an increase the conservancy refused to accept.
The conservancy said in a news release on its motion, “We’ve been dealing with the impacts of Penn Warehousing’s underhanded tactics for some time, but the revelation that they attempted to negotiate the sale of the ship without our knowledge or authorization is upsetting. It is more proof that Penn Warehousing has engaged in a deliberate pattern of behavior intended to force the Conservancy’s default, and seize the SS United States, so that they can sell the historic ship for their own financial gain.”
To comply with the June ruling, the conservancy had entered a tentative purchase agreement with Florida’s Okaloosa County. The county would pay to transport the vessel, clean it to remove environmental hazards like PCBs and empty and clean the fuel tanks. After that work was completed, possibly in Norfolk, the county would sink it to create an artificial reef for sports fishing and diving off Destin-Fort Walton Beach.
The purchase price was to be $9 million with $4 million coming from the county and the remainder from partners in the venture.
The county identified three locations for the reef site between 25 and 30 miles off the coast.
Earlier this month, the county board delayed a vote on appropriating the money to buy the ship. Reasons for the delay could lay in both the back rent dispute and the arrival of hurricane season. A vote could happen Sept. 17.
If the sale proceeds, that would put to rest one of the conservancy’s original goals which was to rehabilitate the 990-foot liner into a pier-side hotel and tourist attraction.
The third option for the liner, which was built in 1951 and holds the speed record for an Atlantic crossing, would be to sell it for scrap.
There is another out for the conservancy.
If the agreement with Okaloosa County falls apart, neighboring Escambia County [Pensacola] has launched a sponsorship campaign and taken other steps to raise funds to buy SS United States. The county commissioners also would sink the liner for a fishing and diving reef.
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Foundation has agreed to give $3 million toward the effort and the Escambia County Aquatic Resources Stewardship Endowment has committed another $400,000. Between those donations, $2 million in RESTORE funds plus private contributions, Escambia County has raised close to $5.5 million for the project, the Pensacola News Journal reported.
The conservancy’s motion claimed Penn Warehousing insisted on [Okaloosa County] making a $3 million payment, terming it a “ransom.”
“Penn Warehousing’s continued bad faith (now, in total disregard of its representations to this Court) threatens the future of the SS United States and the Conservancy’s ability to preserve her in any form, including a land-based legacy museum,” the motion says.
In announcing the appeal of the nonprofit’s motion, Craig Mills, an attorney for Penn Warehousing, said in a statement the company “remains perplexed and frustrated at the Conservancy’s apparent refusal to comply with the Court’s directive, which is depriving it of the opportunity to open Pier 82 to a commercial customer that will bring good-paying union jobs and considerable tax revenues to the City and the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority.”
