January 1977 - Maritime Reporter and Engineering News

S/S United States Offered To High Bidder —Minimum $5 Million

U.S. citizens are invited to submit sealed bids to the Maritime Administration (MarAd) for the purchase of the 24-year-old passenger liner S/S United States, laid up at Norfolk, Va. The minimum price is $5 million, payable in cash within 30 days of acceptance of the successful bid. Each bid must be accompanied by a 10 percent deposit (cash, certified or cashier's check, etc.). A detailed outline of the proposed operation or use of the vessel and sufficient financial information about the bidder must be submitted.

This requirement is to enable MarAd to determine if the proposed project is feasible and whether the bidder is capable of using the vessel as permitted by law. All previous bidders must update and resubmit their proposals to be considered under the current invitation. In addition, the machinery must be maintained in the same condition it is in when the vessel is purchased, as specified by MarAd. The ship may not be resold without Mar- Ad's prior approval, it may be requisitioned by the Government during a national emergency, and all financing arrangements must be approved.

Copies of the Invitation for Bids (No. PD-X-1013) are available from the Contracting Officer, Burt T. Kyle, Director, Office of Domestic Shipping, Room 6616, Maritime Administration, U.S.

Department of Commerce, Washington, D.C. 20230. Bids will be opened at 2:15 p.m., EST, March 1, 1977, in Room 3708 of the Commerce Building at 14th and E Streets, N.W., Washington, D.C.

This is the third Invitation for Bids which MarAd has issued for the vessel, but the first incorporating an amendment to the Passenger Ship Sales Act (PL 92- 296) which now permits the sale of the S/S United States for operation or for use as a floating hotel in or on the navigable waters of the United States. Before it was amended, the law permitted the sale of the vessel for operation only.

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