Overture, curtain lights and maybe some slight traffic delays: The SS United States is scheduled to leave its former berth in South Philadelphia on Nov. 15 on a yearlong voyage to the Florida Panhandle, where it will become on an artificial reef and you will become an underwater tourist. attraction.

The former “Queen of the Seas,” a nod to a time before air travel became the norm, has graced the area’s scenic landscape with big box stores and fast food joints for nearly 30 years. At high tide on November 14, tugboats will move the ship from Pier 82 to nearby Pier 80 as it prepares to head to Mobile, Alabama.

” READ MORE: The stewards of the SS United States say goodbye to the ship Philly bound for Florida: ‘Have a good trip, great lady’

The real movement down the Delaware River begins at low tide early Friday morning. The complicated logistical feat is a coordinated effort between the ship’s new owners in Okaloosa County, Florida, and local, state and federal agencies, including the Delaware River Port Authority and the U.S. Coast Guard.

To reach the Atlantic Ocean, the SS United States will have to pass under the Walt Whitman Bridge, the Commodore Barry Bridge and the Delaware Memorial Bridge, according to Okaloosa County.

DRPA spokesman Mike Williams said it will likely be necessary to temporarily stop traffic at Walt Whitman and Commodore Barry so the ship can safely pass below.

“This measure will be taken as a safety measure and to minimize driver distraction,” Williams said.

As of Thursday, plans had not been finalized with DRPA engineering and operations teams, so the exact timing and duration of the traffic disruptions remained unclear.

Williams said the agency aimed to give motorists “sufficient time to plan their trip accordingly.”

The move to Alabama is expected to take about two weeks. Once there, the ship will undergo hazardous materials remediation, including fuel, so as not to harm its future ecosystem in Florida. According to the ship’s new owners, the ship will also need to undergo modifications so that it can be sunk upright when it reaches its final resting place in Florida.

The entire process is expected to take approximately one year.

The eventual sinking of the SS United States is not the outcome some of its fiercest defenders wanted, but rather the outcome they had to settle for after a years-long charter dispute and a court intervention that forced the ship’s stewards.

The ship could not remain at its current berth because that relationship soured and the dock operators I wanted to evict the nearly 1,000-foot ship. No dock could accommodate such a large tenant in such a short time.

Although the ship was destroyed long ago, preservationists hoped that a developer could reimagine it and give it new life by turning it into a hotel, but financing never came to fruition.

The SS United States Conservancy, which owned the ship until October, has said sinking it was not its first option, but It’s better than sending the boat to the scrapyard..

Okaloosa County officials said they are committed to preserving the ship’s history and are working with the conservation organization to build a museum.

People will be able to follow the ship’s journey online through a Okaloosa County Website.