Topic starter
09/04/2008 6:08 am
Bad luck hits Majestic America Line, again: A fire in the engineroom of the Queen of the West yesterday stopped a cruise on the Columbia Rover early. No passengers injured, four crew members treated for smoke inhalation and released on the scene, according to Portland local TV station KATU (see "Crew members injured in sternwheeler fire").
As sad this is for Majestic America Line's recovering business in the Northwest, it shows clearly how little danger there is for passengers on this type of riverboat, hence also the Delta Queen. A tugboat was nearby to assist immediately, a well trained crew was able to estinguish the fire by themselves even befor the Coast Guard arrived on the scene, all passengers were evacuated safely. Citing KATU tv: "Passengers and crew were able to walk off the ship via the front gangplank."
Isn't this quite the opposite from the ridiculous drama scenario Rep. Oberstar painted when talking about hundreds of passengers burning to death?
09/04/2008 11:25 am
Franz Neumeier;10357 wrote: Isn't this quite the opposite from the ridiculous drama scenario Rep. Oberstar painted when talking about hundreds of passengers burning to death?
My personal opinion is to agree with you. My guess is that Oberstar would find a way to turn it against the DQ.
09/04/2008 11:50 am
I agree with Bruce. I'm afraid this will just reinforce Oberstar's "excuse" to stop the DQ. I can even visualize it: " Because the Queen of the West meets all the requirements of SOLAS was the ONLY reason nobody was hurt. This is a reinforcement of why it is imperative that we stop the Delta Queen..."
Anybody know what caused the fire? My admiration to the crew for handling this little nasty with skill and professionalism.
10/04/2008 4:07 pm
Wall Street continues to think less and less of Joe Uberroth and company. Ambassadors International stock is now in a free fall, and it's trading at $6.45 a share. Just last week it was still in the $8.00 range. Hopefully, Ambassadors' immediate plans to stop the fall include divesting themselves of their American flag passenger shipping interests. Perhaps they can take a page from Coca Cola Bottling Company of New York's play book, and spin the boats off as a separate corporate entity.