<p>GALVESTON _ State officials on Friday withdrew a request for federal money to charter a cruise ship for use as emergency housing in Orange County for Hurricane Ike storm victims.</p><p>Officials withdrew the request to the Federal Emergency Management Agency after discovering that silt deposits made it impossible for the cruise ship Regal Empress to enter Port Orange, said Michael Gerber, executive director of the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs.</p><p>State and Orange County officials on Monday asked FEMA to pay for using the 1,100-bed cruise ship, owned by Royal Empress Cruise Lines, for emergency housing.</p><p>The ship, which was anchored in the Gulf of Mexico awaiting a FEMA decision after being forced to leave Galveston Harbor on Thursday to make room for other vessels, will head to its home port, Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.</p>