The Delta Queen will stay shackled to Chattanooga's shore for the time being after an attempt to move the boat to Cincinnati so it can cruise the Ohio River went awry at the 11th hour.
After months of debate, the 113th Congress ended without passing a critical bill that would have allowed the Delta Queen to operate out of Cincinnati as an overnight passenger vessel on the Ohio River for 15 more years, as it did before 2007.
"It is what it is," Leah Ann Ingram, managing partner at Delta Queen Hotel, said Friday about the bill going aground.
Two U.S. Senate Democrats from the East Coast faced down the entire delegation from Ohio in a showdown over a battered paddlewheel steamer that enthusiasts say evokes the glory days of Mark Twain-era river culture.
According to The Cincinnati Enquirer, Sens. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Ben Cardin, D-Md., used a move called a "hold" to effectively strangle a bill that would have resurrected the Delta Queen, even after an identical bill sailed through the U.S. House.
At issue is the wooden superstructure of the steel-hulled vessel, which the U.S. Coast Guard maintains runs afoul of the 1966 Safety of the Seas law.
The Delta Queen sought an exemption to the law every few years, until a dispute between the Seafarers labor union and then-owner Majestic America in 2007. In the end, U.S. Rep Jim Oberstar, a Minnesota Democrat, allegedly blocked the exemption that year.
Starting in 2009, the 88-stateroom boat operated as a hotel with a bar and restaurant on Chattanooga's riverfront as the U.S. House and Senate debated its fate.
The Delta Queen is owned by Xanterra Parks & Resorts Inc. a Denver, Colo.-area company controlled by Denver billionaire Phil Anschutz.
An investor group led by New Orleans businessman Cornel Martin has worked with the U.S. Coast Guard and various Ohio legislators, including Sens. Sharrod Brown, D-Ohio, and Rob Portman, R-Ohio, to lay the various objections raised by members of the Senate.
Blumenthal and Cardin cited safety as their reason for blocking the Delta Queen's proposed 15-year exemption, warning that the boat was a fire hazard that, if a disaster occurred, could mar the reputation of all steamboats.
Much of the boat's steam infrastructure is antiquated and needs to be replaced.
But the Enquirer reported that safety concerns were addressed in an earlier amendment that would have required the Queen's owners to replace 10 percent of the boat's non-fire-retardant material each year.
"I don't see that there is any legitimate safety concern at this point," Portman told the Enquirer.
The Delta Queen has been closed for business since January of 2013, when freezing temperatures caused what Ingram said was "substantial damage" to the vessel's water pipes.
"Repairs are being done as we speak," Ingram said Friday afternoon.
The Delta Queen could find its fortunes fading even faster if it can't find any relief on the legislative front.
Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke has attempted a variety of maneuvers to remove the boat from the city's waterfront, from giving guests parking citations to an attempted eviction for what he said was unpaid rent.
Berke softened his stance when it appeared that Martin's group was prepared to buy the Queen and sail it away, and a spokesperson said the city would continue to grant the Queen exemptions as those talks progressed after the boat was designated a National Treasure by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
Lacie Stone, director of communication for the city, could not be reached for comment Friday.
No matter what happens, this fight isn't over, say supporters, who inundated politicians with calls toward the end of this session and who vow to continue their full-court press in 2015.
"I will be right there too, fighting for that beautiful iconic old riverboat with everything I can," said Carole Matthews, a Florida resident and fixture on steamboat-related message boards.
"So we may be far away but we will see this through, [and] I guarantee you I will not give up 'till my favorite riverboat is back in service."
Contact staff writer Tim Omarzu at tomarzu@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6651.
Contact Ellis Smith at esmith@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6315.