Crystal's latest project: Restore the SS United States

Crystal's rendering of a restored SS United States.

NEW YORK — Crystal Cruises on Thursday revealed a grand plan to transform the SS United States — a mothballed, 65-year-old ocean liner — into a modern, luxury cruise vessel.

The ship has been docked in since 1996.

Edie Rodriguez, Crystal’s CEO, revealed the company’s plans today along with the ship’s current owner, the SS United States Conservancy, at the Manhattan Cruise Terminal here. Rodriguez said Crystal would cover all costs associated with preserving the ship while it undergoes a technical feasibility study to determine if it can be revitalized.

Edie Rodriguez said Crystal would cover all costs associated with preserving the ship while it undergoes a technical feasibility study.Photo Credit: Arnie Weissmann

Crystal plans to transform the liner into an 800-passenger, 400-suite vessel called the United States by Crystal Cruises, preserving historical elements of the original United States, such as its promenade and Navajo Lounge. Crystal said it would be rebuilt extensively to meet current standards and would be in full regulatory compliance.

“Our goal is that it reemerge as a modern luxury vessel,” Rodriguez said, adding that the vessel would have the same 1.6 passenger-to-crew ratio as the 1,070-passenger Crystal Serenity. “It is our aspiration that it emerges as America's flagship again.”

Susan Gibbs, executive director of the SS United States Conservancy and granddaughter the ship’s designer, William Francis Gibbs, said the conservancy planned to develop a land-based museum dedicated to the United States, and hoped to anchor it in New York.

She conceded that the liner “obviously needs upgrades” in order to “adhere to 60 years of rules and regulations.”

“Change is both exhilarating and challenging,” she said.

This is the second time that Crystal’s owner, Genting Hong Kong, will own the storied ocean liner, long known as the Big U.

Genting's Star Cruises purchased the United States in 2003, intending to operate the ship as part of NCL America, Norwegian’s U.S.-flagged fleet operating in Hawaii. (Star Cruises owned 100% of Norwegian Cruise Line at the time.)

NCL's U.S.-flagged operations did not grow as planned, and the SS United States Conservancy purchased the United States from Norwegian/Genting in order to save it from being sent to a scrapyard.

The United States still holds the "Blue Riband" record for fastest transatlantic speed, set in 1952 on its maiden voyage from New York to England.