Hope Boat.

Businessmen pump money -- and dreams -- into yesteryear vessel.

MANY CARGO SHIPPERS AND TOURISTS DREAM OF THE olden days when maritime vessels were shipshape and reliable. A group of North American business executives is trying to make that vision a reality.

They are restoring the SS United States, which last carried goods and passengers decades ago. With the facelift, they hope to inject a little romance back into the shipping scene.

"When people go on an ocean cruise, they want to feel at sea," says Thomas F. Margiotti, the program director of the project to make the SS United States a seaworthy force again. "Nowadays, these cruise ships have rock climbing and skating rinks. That's not cruising. The United States, now she's meant for cruising the way it used to be."

Margiotti says most of the modern cruise ships look just like what they are: glitzy hotels turned on their sides with propellers at the rear. "Where's the romance in that?" he asks. The SS United States, on the other hand, kindles memories of an era when giant stacks puffed out clouds of smoke as the ship steamed through the seas.

The SS United States debuted in the wake of World War II when the Navy was looking for a super liner of its own that could serve as a troop transport ship. The U.S. government wanted a ship that it could convert from a liner to a troop vessel for 15,000 men and goods in 24 hours. It also wanted a ship that could outrace enemy ships, survive a torpedo hit and sail nonstop to anywhere in the world in less than 10 days. What it got was a ship that's nearly a quarter mile long--the largest passenger vessel in the country. But it's also the fastest, thanks to its 286,000 horsepower engines, and is able to reach a speed of 44.7 knots, or 51.4 miles per hour.

Shipbuilders used 2,000 tons of aluminum, keeping the vessel light despite its size. Yet, it also had a strong hull, built to take hits from enemy torpedoes. Indeed, the U.S. government guarded the design specifications until almost 30 years after the ship's construction. But there was nothing secret about the maiden voyage: the SS United States crushed the transatlantic speed record set by the Queen Mary by 10 hours.

In 1958, though, jets crossed the Atlantic, folding time and geography like a Japanese fan. Jet-setters sought speed, not slow ocean voyages. At the same time, it proved too costly to supply crew and fuel for the great ship, so the SS United States was shut down 1969 for an overhaul. Its boilers gasped and have remained silent ever since.

United States Cruises Inc. took control of the ship in 1978 with a $5 million bid at a government auction and a $150 million idea to refit the cabins and sell them as time shares. The company went bankrupt, though, and U.S. marshals seized the ship in February 1992. Rescue came in the form of a group of businessmen that soon stepped in and bought the vessel for $2.6 million. One of the partners was Edward Cantor, a rich developer and entrepreneur from New Jersey, who took full control of her in 1997.

Cantor wants to put the SS United States back in service, with an eye on the Caribbean trade. Making dreams come true, especially romantic ones, can be an expensive proposition and this is no exception. It could cost more than $300 million to get the vessel shipshape. But, says Margiotti, "This one's worth it."