Ongoing SS United States legal dispute heads to mediation

PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The ongoing legal dispute over moving the SS United States from its South Philadelphia dock is heading to mediation.

With Thursday's eviction deadline passed, U.S. District Judge Anita Brody agreed that the saga of the rusting ocean liner should be mediated by a federal magistrate.

At a video conference Friday morning attorneys for the SS United States Conservancy, which owns the ship, asked Brody to extend her deadline to move the ship until Dec. 5, after hurricane season. Instead, she sided with Penn Warehousing, the pier's operator, saying a mediator should settle the ongoing rent dispute.

In court filings, the Conservancy accused Penn Warehousing of bargaining in bad faith, arguing its insistence on a $3 million-a-year advance rent payment derailed the Conservancy's agreement to sell the ship to Okaloosa County in Florida. The county planned to buy the ship and sink it to create a reef.

Craig Mills, an attorney for Penn Warehousing, said that $3 million figure had been in previous public court filings as a payment if the ship remained docked past Thursday’s deadline. He told KYW Newsradio the landlord's goals in mediation would be to establish who would be responsible for the insurance when the ship is moved, and who would pay for damage the ship has done to the pier.

In a statement, the Conservancy said it was "disappointed that Penn Warehousing continues to disparage and denigrate both the Conservancy and the historic symbol of our nation," and hopes "that Penn Warehousing will enter mediation in good faith.”

The 990-foot-long ship has been docked at Pier 82 for 28 years.

Brody asked the parties to report back to her next Friday with a progress report on mediation.