Sen. George Voinovich (R-Ohio) introduced legislation in the Senate on Tuesday to extend the historic Delta Queen’s exemption from a 1966 law banning passenger vessels with wooden superstructures.
Without congressional action, the current 40-year exemption will expire on Nov. 1.
The 1966 law prohibits wooden vessels from carrying 50 or more people on overnight trips. Built in 1926, the Delta Queen has a steel hull and a wooden superstructure. Last August, Congress did not pass legislation that would have granted the Delta Queen a seventh exemption.
The proposed law, S. 3498, would allow the historic passenger vessel to continue in operation until Nov. 1, 2018, according to the Save the Delta Queen Campaign.
The 174-passenger Delta Queen is scheduled to sail four final trips along the Ohio, Cumberland and Tennessee rivers through the end of October: from Nashville to Pittsburgh and back; from Nashville to Cincinnati; and from Cincinnati to Memphis.
As part of Majestic America Line, the Delta Queen is up for sale along with the brand’s six other ships. Parent company Ambassadors International put Majestic on the market in April. To date, there have been no buyers for any of the individual ships or the brand as a whole.
Vicki Webster, who heads the Save the Delta Queen Campaign, has repeatedly expressed her organization’s desire that whatever entity acquires the Delta Queen keep the vessel operational, rather than transform it into a floating hotel or find some other use for it.
“We are confident that members of Congress will respond to the wishes of their constituents and vote to keep the Queen alive and plying the rivers for generations to come,” Webster said in a statement.
Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) and David Vitter (R-La.) co-sponsored the legislation.