HOUSTON -- An aging cruise ship that Texas officials want to use as temporary housing for displaced victims of Hurricane Ike moved offshore Thursday to await word on whether the federal government will pay for the plan.

However, Federal Emergency Management Agency officials in Austin said they had not received any formal request for funds linked to the ship and claimed a state agency did not follow protocol by sending a letter to Harvey Johnson, FEMA’s deputy administrator and chief operating officer.

Simon Chabel, a spokesman in FEMA’s joint field office in Austin, said such a request must go through the state’s department of emergency management and be made on a specific form.

“This process exists so we can ensure that the state is speaking with one voice when they asked us for things,” Chabel said. “We’re not going to respond to this sort of informal ask.”

The Houston Chronicle first reported the state’s request Thursday.

The 1950s-era Regal Empress, with up to 1,200 available beds, left port on schedule at 2:30 p.m. Thursday and dropped anchor about 10 miles offshore, said Jim Bourke, the ship’s agent. A port official said the ship had to leave to make room for others arriving this weekend.

The crew will wait until Monday to find out if the ship’s next destination is Port Orange, about 100 miles up the Texas coast, or the Bahamas, where it would resume round-trip cruises to Florida in December, Bourke said.

“We’re really hoping to stay,” Bourke said. “If it didn’t look like it was going to happen, we’d already be heading to the Bahamas.”

Michael Gerber, Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs executive director, e-mailed a letter to Johnson on Monday and spoke to Johnson directly by phone about using the ship for temporary housing in Orange County. About 3,000 displaced victims are seeking shelter there.

Gerber made the request on behalf of Orange County Judge Carl Thibodeaux.

“We were identifying an option, and I stated the state’s interest that we wanted FEMA to explore it,” Gerber said. “If there are forms to fill out, I’m sure FEMA will let us know what those forms are. But I know, at the highest levels of FEMA, they are aware of the state’s interest in exploring the feasibility of a cruise ship.”

Using cruise ships caused FEMA some angst after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The agency was criticized for signing a six-month, $236 million deal with Carnival Cruise Lines for temporary housing on three ships. Rep. Henry Waxman of California said at the time that he had documents from 2002 showing that Carnival normally earned revenue of $150 million over six months.

Regal Empress owner James Verrillo told the Chronicle that he was offering rates of $48 per person, plus $7 per meal. State officials say the lodging rate is less than FEMA is paying to house storm victims in hotels.

The 611-foot ship was built in 1953 and is due to be taken out of service in 2010.

“We’re not talking about a more modern luxury ship,” Gerber said. “This is a pragmatic option for folks who really don’t have any other choices.”

The ship had been docked in Galveston since Sept. 28 and provided temporary housing for about 300 disaster relief workers hired by Belfor USA, a company contracted to clean storm debris from the port, said assistant harbormaster Mike Ziesemer. The last of the workers moved off the ship Saturday, Ziesemer said.

Gerber’s letter said the affected area in southeast Texas has received only 262 mobile home or park model units for displaced hurricane victims.

“Despite being promised 300 units a week, local officials are now desperate to keep their citizens in place and living close to employment,” the letter said.

Gerber said Johnson visited southeast Texas earlier this week to survey the housing situation. He said the cruise ship was only one of the options FEMA is considering.

Gerber acknowledged that cruise ships are rarely the best option for temporary housing.

“For families, it’s hard to say that the ideal solution is to put 1,000 people on a boat for some period of time,” Gerber said.  “It’s cramped space, it’s not adequate storage. But absent hotels and motels or multifamily apartments, it’s worth taking a good hard look at.”