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Ocean Liner Accepts a Retirement With No Return Commute
· New York time
The SS United States, a roughly 1,000-foot ocean liner that once broke trans-Atlantic speed records, has been sunk off Florida's Gulf Coast to become an artificial reef. The controlled sinking took place about 20 nautical miles offshore without explosives, CBS News reported. The project is intended to create the world's largest artificial reef. NPR reported that the ship is expected to become a diving destination and a home for marine life, giving a vessel once celebrated for moving quickly a purpose that requires it to stay exactly where it is. The change is dramatic even by retirement standards. A ship built to cross an ocean carrying passengers will now serve visitors who come down to it. Its old distinction was speed above the water; its new attraction is the scale and structure it provides below. The deliberate sinking also separates the project from an accident. Sending the liner to the bottom was the plan, not a voyage that went wrong. The reef's future depends on what develops around the ship as well as the ship itself. For a celebrated liner, the new schedule is unusually forgiving. There are no departures to miss, no late arrivals to explain, and an entire ocean to supply the background scenery.
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