It’s deadline day for the SS United States, but the boat’s stewards again want more time to come up with a plan

The instructions a federal judge gave the stewards of the SS United States were clear: Have a plan to move the 990-foot ship from Pier 82 in front of the South Philadelphia Ikea store by Sept. 12, or else.

But a day before the deadline, the ship’s stewards, the SS United States Conservancy, once again asked the court to move the deadline, to Dec. 5.

The ship has already skirted the scrapyard on more than one occasion but finding a second life for the 990-foot vessel has been a series of false starts and stops. Ideas to turn it into time-share condos or reconfigure it for a cruise line have failed to materialize because of a lack of financing.

The latest existential threat to the ship is a 2021 rent dispute between its stewards and landlord Penn Warehousing. The pier operator wanted to double the daily berth rate to $1,700, the conservancy opposed, and Penn Warehousing sought to evict. The issue landed in court, where U.S. District Judge Anita B. Brody told the conservancy it had to face the music.

“You’re not entitled to be at the pier forever,” Brody told a conservancy attorney in August as she declined a request for more time at the pier.

Since that hearing, the conservancy entered a tentative purchase agreement with Florida’s Okaloosa County. The county wants to transport the vessel to the state’s warm gulf waters and sink it to create an artificial reef along Northwest Florida’s Destin-Fort Walton Beach shores.

But that tentative agreement has not been ratified, with County Administrator John Hofstad citing a “wrinkle with pier operators” as part of the delay, a claim the conservancy echoes in Wednesday’s court filings.

In court documents, the conservancy says Penn Warehousing insisted on the county making a $3 million payment — an amount floated as a penalty should the ship remain at Pier 82 by the deadline — during a meeting with officials.

Craig Mills, an attorney for Penn Warehousing, confirmed the parties last spoke at the end of August, when they discussed short-term leasing options until Okaloosa County could move the ship. He said his client has remained largely in the dark on the conservancy’s efforts to comply with the deadline.

“Penn Warehousing 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,” said Mills in a statement.

“We will seek the appropriate relief from the Court if, as is now inevitable, the vessel remains at Pier 82 after September 12.”

A spokesperson for the conservancy could not be reached for additional comment.

Here are the options on the table — some more feasible than others.

Okaloosa County’s Tourist Development Department was all in on acquiring the boat, committing $9 million — including $5 million in contributions from partners — to towing, transporting, and reefing the vessel. Documents show the department aims to make the county “the dive capital of the state of Florida and artificial reef capital of the United States.”

The tentative purchase agreement that outlined these details, however, was “wholly contingent upon approval of this Agreement by the Board [of Okaloosa County Commissioners] on or before September 4.”

That did not happen. A spokesperson for the county did not respond to requests for comment ahead of the Sept. 12 deadline and had on past occasions declined to comment until the deal was finalized.

Mills said another county had expressed interest in reefing the ship but didn’t say which one.

It was previously reported that Escambia County, Okaloosa’s neighbor, had expressed interest in the ship but couldn’t vote on the matter before the agreement between Okaloosa and the conservancy was signed.

This has been the best-case scenario in the short term for the conservancy, which has been vocal about how it doesn’t see reefing the ship as an ideal solution. By finding a temporary home, the conservancy could pursue a white knight who would help it redevelop the ship into a mixed-use destination that could include a museum commemorating the former “Queen of the Seas.”

In court documents, however, the conservancy has described finding a temporary berth as nearly impossible, with the Philadelphia Navy Yard, the Virginia Port Authority, the Maryland Port Authority, the North Carolina State Ports Authority, the South Carolina Ports Authority, and the Georgia Ports Authority having no room for the ship.

As of Wednesday, there was no hearing set to revisit the conservancy’s plans, but Brody had previously floated the idea of transferring ownership of the ship to Penn Warehousing if the vessel’s stewards couldn’t sort something out. Penn Warehousing’s attorneys have said acquiring the ship is not their ideal solution but they would accept it if the conservancy didn’t make progress in getting the ship out of Pier 82.

If no deal is struck between the conservancy and another home, it opens the door for the ship to be scrapped for metal.

Brody is slated to hear the conservancy’s motion asking for a deadline extension on Friday.