PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) — In just a few days, the SS United States of America you will start towards it the last trip southwhere it will be sunk as an artificial reef off the Florida Gulf Coast.

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

Action News caught up with the world’s foremost ship sinking expert, Capt. Joseph Farrell — who also created the current record holder for the world’s largest artificial reef — about what the mission will entail.

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Farrell is part of Resolve Marine and has implemented 80 major ship diving projects around the world, transforming them into premier marine habitats and dive destinations. Resolve Marine is also the company that dismantled the wreck of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore and dislodged the cargo ship that crashed into it.

“This is the best ending for the ship. By serving as an artificial reef, it means the United States will live to nurture generations of marine life,” he said.

Farrell says crews will check the tides for the best time to start their journey.

He says the SS (steamer) United States of America will have to pull away from the dock at high tide, which is expected to happen on Thursday. It will then have to go under the Walt Whitman Bridge during low tide Friday morning.

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It will take about two weeks to travel to Mobile, Alabama.

“Three tugs will tow the 900-foot-long, 53,000-ton vessel more than 1,800 nautical miles at 5 knots per hour from Philadelphia under three bridges spanning the Delaware River, through Delaware Bay, into the Atlantic Ocean, around the Peninsula Florida, in the Gulf of Mexico and Mobile Gulf,” Farrell explained.

The historic ocean liner — which holds the record as the fastest ever to cross the Atlantic Ocean — will be cleaned, the interior scrapped and any toxins or asbestos removed.

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

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

“On the dives we’ve done, we strategically place C-4 explosives on a ship,” Farrell says. “In that case, 800-1,000 pounds of C-4 will be required for the United States.”

He said that once the charges are detonated, a ship the size of the SS United States can take up to five hours to sink.

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“This is a very delicate mission,” says Farrell. “The hardest part is the tow from the dock in Philadelphia. The value must be at the lowest and slowest point to ensure easy handling.”

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

“This will be an exciting historic maritime moment,” he said. “The United States of America is a testament to America’s sea power and engineering ingenuity. Instead of turning the United States into scrap metal, which is not profitable, it will have an afterlife.”

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

The USS Oriskany, also known as the “Great Barrier Reef,” holds the title of the world’s largest man-made reef. That is, until the US SS breaks that record in a year or two.

“The whole mission, from start to dive, has to be done right,” says Farrell. “The ship must sit upright so that it is firmly planted in the floor of the Bay.”