NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- The SS United States, the largest luxury liner ever built in America and the holder of oceanic crossing records, was saved from the scrap pile Monday by a Turkish shipyard owner who wants to return the once-elegant ship to service.
The superliner, which last sailed in 1969, has been berthed at a coal pier owned by CSX Transportation, a subsidiary of CSX Corp., since 1989. When its owner went bankrupt, CSX moved to have the ship sold at auction so it could evict the 990-foot vessel -- and collect roughly $250,000 in back rent.
Widely expected to go for scrap because of extensive asbestos contamination and a general state of disrepair, scrap dealers from around the world were topped after two dozen bids by a $2.6 million offer from Kahraman Sadikoglu.
Sadikoglu, owner of the Turkur shipyard -- the largest in his country -- said he planned to spend $140 million to return the ship to cruise, and possibly trans-Atlantic, service. He said since labor rates are lower in his yard than in the United States, he could swing the deal.
After the bidding, he acknowledged it was a lot of money, but added: 'Today to build such a ship (one) needs about $500 million.'
Money from the bid will first go to U.S. marshals, who have kept the vessel secure during bankruptcy proceedings, then to CSX for rent. After expenses, the rest will go to the Finnish bank that held a $6 million mortgage on the ship.
Bidding for Sadikoglu was a New York businessman, Fred Mayer, who came to the USA from Yugoslavia in 1963 aboard the liner. He said it was an emotional day for him. 'We're hoping to put it back in service,' he said.
Sadikoglu paid 20 percent down, getting $70,000 wired and presenting a certified check for $450,000. About 125 people turned out to watch the auction on the steps of the U.S. District Courthouse in Newport News. Among the seven bidders were some prominent scrap dealers.
Karen Coster, a lawyer for CSX, said the new owners will have 30 days to six weeks to arrange to tow the ship away. After that, financial penalties are involved.
'We have certain incentives to make it more expensive after six weeks,' Coster said. 'We don't want to go through this again.'
Mayer said Sadikoglu foresees the ship carrying 2,200 passengers. He said the new owners want to keep the SS United States name, but they aren't sure if they will be able to legally retain the name if it is flagged under another country. He said it would take about 2 years to complete the work.
The once-regal ship wound up at a CSX coal pier for a simple reason -- it was the only one of two places in the region big enough to handle it. CSX moved for eviction because it wants to repair the pier.
Before that, the ship had been berthed at Norfolk International Terminals for 19 years. Richard Hadley, a Seattle real-estate developer who purchased the ship in 1981, had spent years trying to find new uses for the ship but was unable to attract financing. His entire financial enterprise finally wound up bankrupt.
The liner set an Atlantic crossing record on its maiden voyage in 1952, going from New York to England in three days, 10 hours and 40 minutes. It set the record even though it operated at far less than its maximum speed of 42 knots. The ship's massive turbine engines were capable of 240,000 horsepower.
Over the years, the 51,500-ton ship has been the subject of a number of ideas, none of which panned out. Some coastal Virginia cities considered turning it into a floating hotel, the federal government thought about converting it to a troop ship, and at one point it was foreseen as a floating dormitory for workers building the trans-Alaskan pipeline.
The ship last sailed Nov. 14, 1969. A victim of high operating costs, it was officially mothballed in 1973. Hadley bought the ship in 1981, and auctioned off interior fittings, china and linens in 1984. He had contemplated using it for service between California and Hawaii.
