Some parts of her could be done without affecting the various pollution regulations.

Sanding down machines, which collect the dust, are available !

Although the ship is not rusting away all over there are some parts of her hull which now look a right mess !

Even the painting of her funnels and superstructure would present a more attractive appearence to investors.

Are you volunteering to pay for the painting? Give me your address and I will make sure the Conservancy sends you the bill!

Individual tours are not currently available.

Some people and groups have arranged visits but it requires a significant financial donation to the Conservancy and then there is a specific tour route and it is fully guided visit only after legal waivers are completed.

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Originally posted by SSTRAVELER:
Steeplechase

Individual tours are not currently available.

Some people and groups have arranged visits but it requires a significant financial donation

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Although I own a commercial decorating company and we do support certain charities here in the UK I would never consider undertaking work like this although a lot of our work is renovating old buildings such as hospitals where they are bringing back in to operation wards which have been shut for a number of years.

To my mind our support, or any publicity, would be of no benefit to my company as we are UK based !

If you are really interested in the ship being preserved you need to find an Amercian based company rather than wasting your time coming up with this suggestion several times ! .

This is now the shell of an old Amercian liner, which some would like to see preservered but lacks the support of American people to make the project work.

The best plan is to let her be scrapped and not waste more money on her as is happening at present.

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[ 10-15-2014: Message edited by: Neil - Ex P. & O. S. N. Company. ]

Seems poor management running this project which with you not receiving a reply it is no surprise that nothing much is happeneing with the ship.

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[ 07-15-2014: Message edited by: joe at travelpage ]

A modern 'ruin' is a great idea - as is the 2m wide painted sample. I suppose Health and Safety rules would be the problem in offering $50 trips to groups of 20 instead of $1000 each.

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20140719_SS_United_States_eyes_mov e_to_New_York.html#dzFiskaemXDgMcI7.99

[ 07-19-2014: Message edited by: SSTRAVELER ]

I doubt if she will ever now be saved !

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Originally posted by Neil - Ex P. & O. S. N. Company.:
With the present owners of the ' ss United States ' appearing to be unwilling to go into a partnership with others all they are now doing is adding to the decline of this rotting hulk which will see her flood and settle on the harbour floor before much longer !

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That is a total falsehood!

The Conservancy is in very serious discussion with a developer/ partnership right now that would see the ship placed in Brooklyn, New York overlooking the Manhattan. These talks have progressed very nicely and hold real potential for a multi-use redevelopment.

Over the years the Conservancy has had serious discussions with numerous people and never said it would not pass title to a new venture if the talks concluded successfully. There's someone out there who did not have a serious plan, nor serious financing, who is spreading silly rumors and making disparaging comments in the media for self aggrandizement. But is is just sour grapes from a failed plan. He had a third rate location and no commitments/support from the corporate entity.

The Trump people were approached long ago and had no interest in the project. Maybe it is because the Conservancy did not want to rename the ship the S.S. Donald and paint TRUMP in giant letters on its side! Trump is all about selling his name for big licensing fees....

The hull is solid and shows minimal wear after all these years. She is not going to spring a leak and sink to the bottom unless you go aboard and try to open the sea cocks.

The Conservancy is currently in a fund raising mode and the response from serious and knowledgeable people has been overwhelming. The Conservancy posted the following this morning on its Facebook page: "We challenged our supporters to raise #10Kin10 days, and we're blown away by your response! As of Day 7, we've passed the $10,000 goal, and donations are still sailing in from all over the world. THANK YOU for rising to the challenge!

During the time out of service nothing has emerged for certain regarding a future for this empty hulk !

They are now even having problems trying to raise money just for her berthing fees so I think they should cut their losses and let her die in peace.

What next will they try to sell to raise money for her berthing fees - One of her funnels ?

As I said before the rust is all surface issues and can be quickly rectified with a proper sandblasting and paint job.

As for selling the propellers, the ship has eight propellers - four for use and four as spares. In a perfect world it would have been nice to keep all of them but they reality is that they were a good source of income and five still exist. At least two of the spares could also be easily recovered from their current location to rejoin the ship at the proper time. And by the way the Queen Mary only has one of her four and it does not seem to hurt her.

The metals being removed from the engine rooms and elsewhere needed to go to prepare the ship for use as a static attraction. The items were selected for removal because they had no display value for a museum and or were blocking the path for a potential tour route. They took out things such as a condenser which from the outside in nothing more than a big metal box that no one would ever have looked at on a tour. The reality is the engine room will never be used again so preparing it as a static attraction makes perfect sense. Massive parts of the Queen Mary's engine rooms were torn out too. Did it hurt her role as an attraction?

As for the fact that nothing has ever come of the ship since her retirement, you need to understand her history and the fact that the Conservancy's time with the ship and their efforts to convert her into a static attraction are only recent. The US Government owned the ship till 1980 and then Richard Hadley and his US Cruises tried to rebuild her for service. When the ship was towed to Turkey in the 1990s the new owners had a real plan to rebuild her and were in serious discussions with Cunard to run her alongside the QE2. Ed Cantor was the next owner and well intentioned but had no solid plan other than to save the ship and then she went to NCL who still dreamed of re-starting the ship and running her alongside the Norway.

If you go by the logic that she has not operated in 45 years, well the Queen Mary has not sailed in 47 years and also is in sore need of a major overhaul. So should she go to scrap too?

The Conservancy's efforts should be appreciated and thankfully many people have stepped up with financial support. (See the links I posted above.) Dockage, security, insurance, etc. is costing the Conservancy something on the order of US$60,000 per month -- not an inconsiderable amount.

This has happened at Shenzhen, China, with the 1962 french built hotel ship ' Ming Hau which previously had operated as a chinese cruise ship and made some cruises from Australia where I visited her several times..

The ' Ming Hau ' hotel has had a few problems but to leave them just sitting in water is asking for trouble as is shown by the number of laid up ships that sink at their moorings !

Expected earning are one thing on an investment but as there seems to be a lack of financial support from many americans will they still visit the ' United States ' if she ever opens to the public in New York ?

This is an unknown area and should not be used to forecast that she will pay her way if she should open to the public.

With big competition from the US aircraft carrier ' Intrepid ' , moored in New York, which still retains most of her original equipment against an empty stripped out shell which will never be returned to the full original interior condition of how she looked while sailing as a passenger ship I know which I would prefer to visit !

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Originally posted by Neil - Ex P. & O. S. N. Company.:
Expected earning are one thing on an investment but as there seems to be a lack of financial support from many americans will they still visit the ' United States ' if she ever opens to the public in New York ?

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What did you say about Americans stepping up Neil? The Conservancy just had a VERY SUCCESSFUL fund raising effort! It was not only Americans as they reported the monies were coming from 17 counties!

Here's the full statement:

Supporters Shatter $100,000 Matching-Donation Goal

In June, cruise industry executive Jim Pollin pledged to match up to $100,000 of new supporter donations to benefit the SS United States. Last week, the Conservancy announced that we were only $2,072 away from that $100,000 goal. Just one week later, we are thrilled to announce that we have received $122,167 in donations eligible for matching -- prompting Jim to raise his initial pledge by $20,000, and match $120,000!

"Our nation's flagship isn't just an historic vessel," Jim Pollin said recently. "It also represents the people of a great and determined nation that once again have demonstrated they can rise to any challenge. In response to the generosity of so many supporters of the SS United States, I am proud to match their recent contributions with an additional donation of $120,000 to save this enduring symbol of our country."

Campaign supporters hailed from 44 states and 17 countries, and their contributions ranged from one dollar to ten thousand. Every donation made a major difference, and we are profoundly grateful to Jim Pollin and to everyone who contributed. The ship would not be afloat today without this extraordinary collective effort.

Meanwhile, as we reported last week, negotiations continue to move forward in support of the ship's redevelopment. Unfortunately, we are not yet in a position to release further details, but we remain optimistic that the remaining challenges associated with the ship's restoration and reuse can be successfully resolved.

Today we celebrate the extraordinary results of our Pollin challenge grant campaign, but the ship has not yet reached safe harbor, and our continued fundraising efforts are absolutely crucial. Donations of any amount can be made HERE.

We remain deeply grateful for your support, and we will keep you informed as our plans for the ship continue to progress. Again, thank you so much!

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Originally posted by SSTRAVELER:
What did you say about Americans stepping up Neil? The Conservancy just had a VERY SUCCESSFUL fund raising effort! It was not only Americans as they reported the monies were coming from 17 countries!

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You mustn't kid yourself that raising $100,000 is some sort of phenomenal fund-raising achievement. To set this in context, just two things I know about in the relatively poor country (compared to the USA) called the United Kingdom:-

After Waterford Wedgwood plc collapsed in 2009, the Wedgwood Museum collection faced being sold to help pay off the pottery firm's pension bill. The collection features 80,000 works of art, ceramics, manuscripts, letters and photographs. The fund-raising effort included a public appeal, which raised £2.74 million in one month (USD 4.4 million).

And there's a historic Cold War-era military aircraft called XH558, the last Avro Vulcan in flying condition. The running costs every year to produce about 40-50 flying hours are somewhere in the region of £1 million (USD 1.6 million). All of this is raised from the public, every year.

The report, from Pricewaterhouse Coopers commissioned by Edinburgh’s city council, found the attraction would only bank £1.3m in annual revenue."

.. is the reason why a preservation bid for a Royal Navy Destroyer for Edinburgh has just failed. see here

This is peanuts compared to the sums required for SSUS. Nothing is viable with a >£3m shortfall each year and I really can't see crowds flocking to see SSUS in whatever guise she might end up as. Costs can't be covered as a "ruin" and I also doubt as a shopping mall she could pay her way either. Her best chance is as a diving reef.

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Originally posted by Globaliser:
If even Americans aren't prepared to stump up a paltry $100,000 and the Conservancy has to go to more than a dozen other countries to get the money, what chance does the ship really have of escaping the scrapper's yard?

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Since this was a call put out to existing supports via the mailing lists I still think $120,000 in a matter of weeks is a good achievement. This gives them several more months to work to complete one of the two competing proposals in front of them right now.

Having to go to more than a dozen countries? LOL ... They did not have to go anywhere, they put out the call to the mailing lists and people from around the world responded. Unlike the endless negativity on this list there are people around the world who want to see the ship saved and willing to support the efforts.

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If the ship is to be saved, as all ship lovers must want, the Conservancy must be aware that funding is required that's a couple of orders of magnitude greater (using that term in the technical sense).

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That's why the Conservancy has been seeing a commercial development partner since the beginning. They have always understood that this effort was bigger in scope and they also understand that if it is to be a success there must be a commercial aspect to provide the on going support. Museum ships even on a small scale don't support themselves.

[ 10-12-2014: Message edited by: SSTRAVELER ]