Topic starter
29/12/2007 3:32 am
Greetings From New Orleans ,
It has just come to my attention that the Delta Queen Company ( thats the way I personally prefer to think of the company ) will be under new management by a foreign firm known as V Ship . Its also my understanding that V Ship manages a number of seagoing commercial companies such as the Wind Star Cruise Line and just hopfully they will do a better and more efficient job than the parent company has shown us these past few years . The conventional consenus is that the St. Louis office will close and no telling where V Ship will set up shop . TIme will tell and hopfully they will bring some sense and order to this company .
Smoothe Sailing !
Ted Davisson
29/12/2007 2:41 pm
Pot Boiler?
WOW! This news should stir up the pot.
http://www.vships.com/portal/site/vhcom/menuitem.10bfb5f91105058c79dbc610185046a0/
29/12/2007 5:29 pm
This news scares the !@!!! out of me. AFAIK, V-ships managed the vessel that did the recent Titantic-like cruise ship sinking. Managing shipping vessels and managing passenger vessels is very different!
I'll leave other comments to those much closer to the action.
shaking in my boots,
S'
David D.
29/12/2007 6:20 pm
V-Ship has plenty of experience managing passenger vessels. Infact some of the finest cruise lines operating today use V-Ship, but they are all foreign flagged. The question is, can V-Ships properly adapt to managing American flag vessels with American crew and staff. That is what remains to be seen!
29/12/2007 7:02 pm
David,
as far as I know the ship mentioned had been managed my V-Ships earlier but was not under V.Ships' management when it sank.
Franz
29/12/2007 7:21 pm
BTW this is no new news. We´ve discussed this topic already here
http://www.steamboats.org/forum/showthread.php?t=1874&highlight=VShips
Carmen
29/12/2007 11:11 pm
David,
There is no need to start knocking at the knees. Regardless who is in charge of a company's hiring of crew they still have to hire regular Captains and Pilots, like myself, to run the boats. Same goes for the engine room and engineering officers. Remember it is the Coast Guard who determines where pilothouse and engine room officers are hired from. Just because they are a management agency does not change how a vessel is run and who runs it.
You have to be an American to hold a license. Now those who have green cards can apply for Merchant Mariner's Document (sometimes called an MMD or Z-card) but can not obtain licenses unless they obtain citizenship. I will say this; they should given a chance before they are criticized. Who knows they may do a good job.
Don't forget the Belle of Louisville's crew is managed by Hornblower and they manage vessels outside the US.
Capt. Joe
29/12/2007 11:29 pm
Hornblower is no longer involved with the BELLE.
29/12/2007 11:32 pm
Joe,
The BELLE WAS managed by Hornblower. They lost their operations contract in January of 2005.
Since then the operation is managed by the Waterfront Development Corporation, a private group who is developing the Waterfront Park for the City of Louisville. The unfortunate situation here is the BELLE seems to be a conflict of intrest for them and she gets brushed to the back burner alot more than a nearing 100 year old steamboat should.
Oh, how I pine for the days of the Belle of Louisville Operating Board and having real "Steamboat People" at the helm! Those were the glory days of the BELLE!
I am proud to say I served the Belle of Louisville Operating board for 14 years. Many on this board have much larger numbers! Now, those WERE the days!
~Travis~
08/01/2008 10:54 pm
The BELLE and former management- Hornblower.
I am glad hornblower got out of the picture. I have not been on the BELLE since Late October of 2005. She looked so much prettier with the overhead life preservers removed and tidily stowed in bankette storage boxes. I miss home (Louisville), the Belle and my old friends and stopping ground. I sure hope the Waterfront developement treats our grand old lady nice! Thanks, Allen Dale.