Yesterday, the House of Representatives, in a provision of a U.S. Coast Guard reauthorization bill, voted to grant a waiver exempting the riverboat Delta Queen from certain fire safety regulations. The bill, which now only requires the president’s signature to take effect, may potentially allow the historic riverboat to return to service.

The Delta Queen is a passenger riverboat delivered in 1927. Its hull is steel, while its deck and deckhouse are of wood supported by steel framing. The wooden deckhouse does not meet the structural fire protection requirements of the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) regulations, as interpreted by the US Coast Guard in the Safety at Sea Act of 1966 (P.L. 89-777). From 1966 through 2007, the Delta Queen operated with a series of legislative waivers. The last waiver ran out in 2008 and the riverboat has been laid up ever since.  Assuming that the new exemption is finalized, the riverboat may be able to reenter overnight passenger service.

In a statement issued by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Stephanie Meeks, president & CEO, wrote, “The Delta Queen is the last of her kind—our only remaining link to the sternwheel steamboats that plied our rivers centuries ago. We commend the Senate bill’s original cosponsors, Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO) and Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO), and House bill original cosponsor, Rep. Steve Chabot (R-OH) and the many other members of Congress who have supported this legislation, for their leadership in enabling the Delta Queen’s return to overnight passenger travel. We are confident that she can again safely provide a unique and enriching overnight experience for current and future generations, while bringing new energy and revenue to the ports she visits along the way.

 “We urge the president to sign this legislation, to set this historic steamship on a new journey, and keep the last vestige of a proud chapter in our American maritime history alive.”