CHICAGO -- American Classic Voyages (ACV) terminated a $6.4 million
ship conversion contract with Nichols Bros. Boat Builders of
Whidbey Island, Wash., on "mutually agreeable terms" and moved the
conversion work on Columbia Queen, a 161-passenger riverboat, to
Cascade General shipyard in Portland, Ore.
"Basically we came to a mutual agreement that this was a
contract that probably shouldn't have happened," said Rod McLeod,
ACV's president. "We have taken the right action. We will receive a
firm delivery date for [Columbia Queen] on Feb. 15."
McLeod said Columbia Queen was only a partially finished ship
that was intended for use as a gambling vessel when ACV acquired it
last summer.
"We bought the hull and engines and are rebuilding the
superstructure and hotel areas," he said.
The resulting delay is forcing ACV to cancel up to eight
one-week cruises originally scheduled for the vessel's inaugural
series in April and May. Affected passengers are being offered a
full refund, plus a re-booking bonus on future Columbia Queen
sailings in 2000 and 2001.
Travel agent commissions will be protected, said company
officials.
Columbia Queen will offer seven-day itineraries on the Pacific
Northwest's Columbia, Snake and Willamette rivers for ACV's Delta
Queen Steamboat division upon its debut.
ACV said sales for Columbia Queen opened in August 1999, and the
ship was 92% sold for its first six months of operation and 84% for
all of the 2000 season.
The ship's renovation and relocation costs plus marketing
expenses will total $22 million to $25 million, said ACV
officials.