location of the Mississippi Queen

and two more pictures ...

MQ located

Thanks for getting the sternline telegraph up again. I was afraid we wouldn't have any contacts in that area...if she arrived at this shipyard last Thursday, then it took 7 days from the time she changed course and headed up the Mississippi to Port Allen. She looks none the worse for wear(hard to tell, considering) if she had to scrape through trees and brush in that cutoff. I see they have a crane positioned to the roof already. If you go to the AIS site: Live Ships Map - AIS - Vessel Traffic and Positions , go over to a bit north of Morgan City and use the satellite view. You'll see a couple of places which could be the shipyard in Belle River. While the sternline telegraph has been abuzz the last few days after an announcement on the DQ that the AQ and MQ had been purchased and both would be running again, the hiring of personnel to dismantle is much more likely. One fact known is that at this time is that neither the AQ nor the MQ have been purchased, contrary to that announcement. There are negotiations going on, but no purchase has been made. And again I base my on site viewing of the MQ to continue to claim she will be dismantled rather than rebuilt, it would be a job more costly than her original price, and where is this money available today? Also consider the supply and demand: ACL is building the new 140 passenger boat out east for service on the Mississippi. The AQ is much more feasible to run again at a much lesser cost than the MQ. That's 432 berths. And if the DQ would ever be resurrected... where is the demand for that number of passengers, at the prices they'd certainly have to charge today?
And what about this little gem:
GREAT AMERICAN STEAMBOAT COMPANY - Trademark by AMERICAN CRUISE LINES, INC. Guilford, CT - Serial Number: 85254474
Put that in your pipe and smoke it!!!

Interesting, and look at this, 2 days later...

MISSISSIPPI QUEEN - Trademark by AMERICAN CRUISE LINES, INC. Guilford, CT - Serial Number: 85256505

I am being extremely optimistic, but why do that when the boat is about to be scrapped? Maybe I am misunderstanding.

Here's a link to the company's Website and to the LinkedIn profile of their VP of Product Development (from MARCH 2011 - present). Some interesting stuff going on here.

Here´s a list of all trademarks connected with ACL.

Carmen

MQ Trademark

If the physical Mississippi Queen is being scrapped, then perhaps ACL has secured rights to the name. We have a similar situation in the Washington, DC area with an ice cream company, where someone has rights to the name "Gifford's" even though the company went bankrupt.

Wesley

MQ trademark

And perhaps attach it to the new boat being built, Wesley??? Quite honestly, with all the problems our MQ encountered in her career, and with the river superstition of naming boats beginning with the 13th letter of the alphabet, M, I think I'd go another route. But apparently GAS Co. (remember MAL?) has no qualms about this name...

You're a mind reader, Judy.

Judy Patsch;25352 wrote: And perhaps attach it to the new boat being built, Wesley??? Quite honestly, with all the problems our MQ encountered in her career, and with the river superstition of naming boats beginning with the 13th letter of the alphabet, M, I think I'd go another route. But apparently GAS Co. (remember MAL?) has no qualms about this name...

I found the link to the GASC trademark a few days ago. Now that I see they also own "Mississippi Queen" I wonder if it's an attempt to deny someone else the use of those trademarks, although I note no such attempt to own "American Queen".

Dumb question

Do the current boats named MISSISSIPPI QUEEN and AMERICAN QUEEN have their names trademarked? I could see usurping the MQ name if our MQ is dismantled, but can you just take the AQ name and force the real AQ to be renamed????

I would think that would be a matter for the courts to decide...

Judy Patsch;25356 wrote: Do the current boats named MISSISSIPPI QUEEN and AMERICAN QUEEN have their names trademarked? I could see usurping the MQ name if our MQ is dismantled, but can you just take the AQ name and force the real AQ to be renamed????

Just to muddy up the waters a bit (intentional brown water reference). Since Delaware North sold the boats to MAL, but not the company, I would think that The Delta Queen Steamboat Company, with all its proprietory bells and whistles, like "Riverlorian", still exists in a dusty file cabinet somewhere in Buffalo, NY. But the boat names probably went with the boats.

A few years ago I wondered how much it would take to buy that file cabinet and actually own DQSC with whatever is left of the Company. I figured the concept would make a comeback someday and the value of that revered name and trademark would rise precipitously.

Or maybe I'd hang on to it. Can you imagine the company owned by the banjo player at the bottom of the banjo player depth chart?

Trademarks

American Queen:
AMERICAN QUEEN - Trademark by Ambassadors Cruise Group, LLC Newport Beach, CA - Serial Number: 74372255

Delta Queen:
DELTA QUEEN - Trademark by Ambassadors Cruise Group, LLC Newport Beach, CA - Serial Number: 76276235

Delta Queen Steamboat Company:
DELTA QUEEN STEAMBOAT COMPANY - Trademark by DELTA QUEEN STEAMBOAT CO., THE New Orleans, LA - Serial Number: 76276290

The guy who owns the old Diamond Lady is in for a shock. That boat is officially documented as the Mississippi Queen

DQSC

I was told the name Delta Queen Steamboat Co. folloed the boat. When they got it they found the company name in a file and the letter that was with it showed the name following the boat. The hotel was using it for a while until around December. I don't know from there if it actually did or they were told to stop using it.

Translation?

Thanks Wesley. So my non-legal mind says that since the AQ was trademarked in 1993, it was done by whatever company name was building her, can't remember the sequence, and now Ambassadors owns it, having bought it from a predecessor. Correct?
And the DQ was trademarked in 2001. So that would have been by Delaware North - and she wasn't trademarked earlier in her career? And likewise Ambassadors bought that name.
And the DQ Steamboat Co. is out there for Paul to purchase!

And meanwhile the MQ is sitting at Argosy Boat in Belle River awaiting whatever... hopefully we'll get an update when some action takes place in that yard.

Judy Patsch;25368 wrote: Thanks Wesley. So my non-legal mind says that since the AQ was trademarked in 1993, it was done by whatever company name was building her, can't remember the sequence, and now Ambassadors owns it, having bought it from a predecessor. Correct?
And the DQ was trademarked in 2001. So that would have been by Delaware North - and she wasn't trademarked earlier in her career? And likewise Ambassadors bought that name.
And the DQ Steamboat Co. is out there for Paul to purchase!

And meanwhile the MQ is sitting at Argosy Boat in Belle River awaiting whatever... hopefully we'll get an update when some action takes place in that yard.

Well, it's all as clear as the Mississippi at Algiers Point. Don't forget the Str. MISSISSIPPI QUEEN was built by Great Ocean Cruise Line which was a subsidiary of ONA. The NATCHEZ was built by Rob't E Lee, Inc. It is all done for tax and other legal reasons.

My take on the current events is that American Cruise Line is possibly pursuing developing a new brand to own, market, and operate the AMERICAN QUEEN and MISSISSIPPI QUEEN. The challenge is certainly daunting and not one taken by the faint of heart or weak in the pocketbook.

Somewhere I read that Jeff Krida, a former president of DQSB, is associated with this group now. And I must say that that does bode well for the project. David Kish and Scott Young would be other stellar DQSB execs., if they get involved.

One year as editor of Inland River Record I received a letter from some high-powered lawyer firm advising me to put one of those circled Rs after the names AQ, DQ and MQ in the IRR listings. Because they were registered trade marks. I said I don't do that. He said "It's the law, you gotta do it." I then faxed him pages from the CG List of Merchant Vessels showing names of other boats with those names. He said "They can't do that, those are registered trade marks." I said "I doubt that, take it up with the USCG." No circled Rs made their way into the IRR.

Glad you mentioned that because I was under the impression that a boat name was not sacred, just the number that is welded or carved or stamped on a beam somewhere in the hull. So, who's right? Sounds like you are. Anybody know the Delta Queen's documentation number? MQ, AQ?

If the Waterways Journal has any lingering worries about registered trademarks in the IRR or other publications, they could cover themselves by printing something like: "All Registered Trademarks are acknowledged as belonging to their respective holders."
I deal with registered trademarks in the software business, and use that often. I'm glad there are no circled-R's cluttering-up the IRR!

Judy Patsch;25368 wrote: Thanks Wesley. So my non-legal mind says that since the AQ was trademarked in 1993, it was done by whatever company name was building her, can't remember the sequence, and now Ambassadors owns it, having bought it from a predecessor. Correct?
And the DQ was trademarked in 2001. So that would have been by Delaware North - and she wasn't trademarked earlier in her career? And likewise Ambassadors bought that name.
And the DQ Steamboat Co. is out there for Paul to purchase!

And meanwhile the MQ is sitting at Argosy Boat in Belle River awaiting whatever... hopefully we'll get an update when some action takes place in that yard.

Judy, as I recall, the trademark registered by DN was a completely new and "modern" rendering of the name "Delta Queen Steamboat Company". It was intended to replace the traditional DQSC "shield".

DELTA QUEEN: 225875. How could you forget that, Lex?

I've forgotten an alarming lot. But I'll survive.

I was a consultant at the building of the Dutch Mississippi Queen when a letter arrived from some goose-juice attorney who claimed they could not use the name and threatened reprisals. The owner laughed and threw away the letter.