Guys, check it out! A giant ship off the Florida coast looks like it’s sinking!
Fret not, it’s intentional. On Wednesday, November 11, the historic S.S. United States is heading to the ocean floor, quite literally, and will ultimately become an artificial reef and diving destination, per The New York Times.
Not in the area? Luckily, the lengthy process was being livestreamed Wednesday for those interested in following along, courtesy of The Associated Press.
“Watch live as SS United States, an ocean liner that is longer than the Titanic and was once the fastest on the seas, is sunk off the coast of the Florida Panhandle in the Gulf of Mexico, turning it into the world’s largest artificial reef,” reads the caption of the AP’s recent YouTube upload of the livestream. Check it out below.
According to the Times, it took years of planning and preparation to reach Wednesday’s landmark effort. A preservationist group, meanwhile, filed a last-minute lawsuit to try to block the effort — but a judge reportedly dismissed it.
“We’re not destroying anything,” Tim Mullane, a Navy veteran and chief operating officer of Coleen Marine (the company sending the ship to the ocean floor), said in a video aired online, per the AP. “It’s going to serve a second life.”
Hundreds gathered Wednesday about 22 nautical miles off the coast of Destin, Florida, aboard sailboats, speedboats and yachts to watch the intentional sinking, described by the Times as “one of the most unusual intentional sinkings to ever take place.”
‘Titanic’ Actor Reveals He Almost Turned Down Iconic Film, Walked Out of Audition After Clash With Casting Director
Eric Braeden may be best known for playing Victor Newman on The Young and the Restless, but the daytime television veteran also appeared in one of the biggest movies of all time, Titanic. And according to the actor, the experience nearly never happened.
Braeden, 85, recently recalled he initially had no interest in playing John Jacob Astor. In fact, he was so unimpressed with the role that it took some convincing from his family. Find out more here.