PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) — In just a few days, SS United States will sail for him last journey southIt will sink as an artificial reef off Florida’s Gulf Coast.

City commissioners in Florida’s Okaloosa County approved a $10.1 million plan to relocate and sink the ocean liner off the coast of Destin-Fort Walton Beach. The plan includes building a $1 million waterfront museum chronicling the cruise ship’s history.

Action News spoke with the world’s top ship sinking expert, Captain Joseph Farrell, who also holds the record for the world’s largest artificial reef, about what this mission will entail.

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Farrell is with Resolve Marine and has implemented 80 major ship sinking projects around the world, transforming them into marine life habitats and top scuba diving spots. Resolve Marine is also the company that dismantled the wreckage of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge and dislodged the cargo ship that hit it.

“This is the best ending for the ship. Serving as an artificial reef means the United States will continue to nourish marine life for generations,” he said.

Farrell said the crew will check the tides to find the best time to begin the journey.

He said the US SS (steam ship) will have to move away from the dock when the waters rise, which is expected to happen on Thursday. It will then have to pass under the Walt Whitman Bridge during low tide on Friday morning.

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It will take approximately two weeks to get to Mobile, Alabama.

“Three tugboats will tow the 900-foot-long, 53,000-ton ship from Philadelphia at 5 knots per hour, over Delaware Bay, under three bridges that cross the Delaware River, a distance of over 1,800 nautical miles into the Atlantic Ocean,” Farrell said. “To the Gulf of Mexico and Mobile Bay,” he explained.

The historic ocean liner, which holds the record for the fastest crossing of the Atlantic Ocean ever, will be cleaned, its interior scrapped and stripped of any toxins or asbestos.

Once the cleanup is complete, the ship will be towed back to the Gulf, where it will head approximately 20 miles southeast just off the coast of Destin-Fort Walton to be scuttled.

Based on his experience in other operations, Farrell says about 30 perforated panels will be cut into the hull to act as holes for water to flow into the ship.

“In the sinkings we do, we strategically place C-4 explosives on a ship,” says Farrell. “In this case, 800-1000 pounds of C-4 will be required for the United States.”

He said it could take up to five hours to sink a ship the size of the SS United States when the explosives were detonated.

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“This is a very delicate task,” says Farrell. “The hardest part is pulling off the dock in Philadelphia. It needs to be at the lowest and slowest point of the tide to allow for easy maneuverability.”

Farrell says he knows this process is difficult for those who know the ship and its history.

“This will be an emotional, historic maritime moment,” he said. “The SS United States is a testament to America’s maritime might and engineering prowess. Rather than reducing the United States to uncost-effective scrap metal, it will have an afterlife.”

Captain Farrell led the sinking of the American aircraft carrier USS Oriskany in 2006, which is now at the bottom of the Gulf off the coast of Pensacola, Florida.

USS Oriskany, also known as the “Great Carrier Reef”, is the largest artificial reef in the world. Until the SS United States broke that record a year or two later.

“The entire mission has to be done right, from start to sink,” says Farrell. “The ship needs to sit upright to sit firmly on the Gulf floor.”