Staff Photo by John Rawlston/Chattanooga Times Free Press
The lights of the Delta Queen glow just after twilight in downtown Chattanooga on Sunday.LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – A longtime Minnesota congressman’s loss in the general election could lead to the return of the Delta Queen steamboat’s travels along the Mississippi River and its tributaries.
The Delta Queen was a river fixture for more than 80 years. The Arkansas News Bureau of the Stephens Media Group reports that in 2008, it was taken off the river after Democratic U.S. Rep. Jim Oberstar cited safety concerns in not continuing to exempt the vessel from a 1966 law that prohibits wooden boats from carrying more than 50 overnight passengers.
The Delta Queen can carry 174 passengers.
Since then, the boat has been a floating hotel in Chattanooga. A coalition called Save the Delta Queen 2010 wants to buy the boat and says Oberstar’s defeat could open the door for its return to the river.