End of the River for Majestic America Line

 Majestic America Line will conclude its final river cruise on Monday, Nov. 16. The company, which was pieced together by Ambassadors International Inc. in 2006, is on the market but hasn’t been sold. No itineraries are scheduled for 2009. On Nov. 15, the American Queen will finish its season and will dock in New Orleans for the winter. The following day, Queen of the West ends its final cruise and will winter in Portland, Ore. Two other vessels -- Delta Queen and Mississippi Queen -- are also in New Orleans, while Columbia Queen will remain in Portland for the winter. Empress of the North completed her last cruise on Aug. 9 and was transferred to the U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD) due to unpaid debt.

Ambassadors International announced plans to sell Majestic America on April 29, saying the venture was unprofitable and a drag on its other businesses, including Windstar Cruises, which remains operating successfully. Today, Ambassadors says “several credible parties have expressed an interest in acquiring some and/or all the assets of Majestic America Line.” However, no sales have been finalized. The company continues its efforts to get a congressional exemption for Delta Queen, so the vessel can continue to operate overnight cruise voyages on the river. Currently, there are bills in the Senate and the House.

Majestic America Line will still have a dedicated team available for any guest, travel partner or vendor inquiries that arise after the 2008 cruise season is completed. For more information, visit www.majesticamericaline.com.

Efforts under way to keep Delta Queen

VICKSBURG, Miss. -- Sens. Thad Cochran and Roger Wicker have joined in congressional efforts to keep the Delta Queen afloat.

The Mississippi Republicans have joined with lawmakers from seven other states to exempt the riverboat from safety regulations.

Because its superstructure is wood, the Delta Queen violates the 1966 Safety of Life at Seas Act. The owners have operated the passenger steamer under an exemption, which expires this year.

Proposed legislation would extend the exemption to November 1, 2018. Without the bill, the Delta Queen could not be allowed to board more than 50 passengers or operate overnight cruises.

The boat's November farewell tour, which Majestic is calling the 2008 Delta Queen Tribute Event, will see the riverboat stop at Greenville, Vicksburg and Natchez en route to New Orleans and retirement.

Last Delta Queen rescue sunk

WASHINGTON _ Supporters of the famed Delta Queen steamboat failed in a last-ditch effort this afternoon to keep the ship cruising the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers on overnight voyages.

The Delta Queen has operated on a Congressional exemption from federal safety standards since 1968, but the exemption expires Nov. 1. Rep. Steve Chabot, R-Ohio used a procedural maneuver on the House floor in an attempt to force the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee to add the exemption to the Coast Guard reauthorization bill. The effort failed 195-208.

On Tuesday, the House Rules Committee refused to forward the exemption to a full House vote.

“I don’t understand why continuing the Delta Queen’s current exemption for an additional ten years has generated such opposition,” Chabot said.

Rep. James Oberstar, D-Minn., the powerful chair the transportation panel, has blocked efforts by Chabot, Rep. William Lacy Clay, D-St. Louis, and others to continue the Delta Queen exemption.

Oberstar argues that the Delta Queen is unsafe for overnight passengers because it is made primarily of wood.

“We should stop this risk to safety here,” Oberstar said, “Fire at night is terrifying. Oppose the amendment.”

In good humor, Oberstar thanked Chabot for a sheetcake emblazoned with an image of the Delta Queen that was sent to his hospital room as he recovered from surgery earlier this year. He said the hospital staff had never heard of the Delta Queen but enjoyed the cake nonetheless.

After Oberstar’s speech, someone in the chamber shouted, “God save the Queen!”

Oberstar chuckled and responded, “God save its passengers.”

Steamboat fans pressure Congress to save Delta Queen

The Save the Delta Queen Campaign is targeting the leaders of Congress this week in a last-ditch effort to keep the nation's most famous paddlewheeler afloat.

The grass-roots organization is bombarding House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and Majority Whip James Clyburn with phone calls, emails and faxes in the hopes of gaining their support for legislation that would continue the historic vessel's long-standing exemption from fire safety rules. The exemption expires in November, and without it, the boat will have to stop sailing.

On Friday, the group delivered petitions in favor of the exemption to Congress signed by more than 5,000 supporters.

Congress has granted the Delta Queen an exemption from the 42-year-old safety rules nine times in the past, nearly always by close-to-unanimous margins. But the chairman of the House Committee on Transportation, Rep. James Oberstar, D-Minn., has been blocking a further exemption, calling the boat a fire hazard.

Congressman Steve Chabot, R-Ohio, has introduced a bill, co-sponsored by more than two dozen representatives of both parties, that would extend the Delta Queen's exemption from the safety rules until 2018. But the legislation remains stuck in Oberstar's committee.

Several media outlets have reported that Oberstar has opposed the exemption to appease a labor union that has been a donor to his campaigns. The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review quoted a Congressional aide as saying "it was and remains a union dispute," noting that the boat's new owners did not accept the collective bargaining contract of the Seafarers International Union when it bought the Delta Queen.

The Save the Delta Queen Campaign, meanwhile, argues that the 1966 fire safety law that is in question was intended to cover ocean-going ships, not riverboats that operate within yards of the shore.