Delta Queen could become floating hotel

CINCINNATI — The owner of the Delta Queen riverboat is considering leasing the national landmark as a floating hotel.

A vice president for the boat's parent company, Ambassadors International of Newport Beach, Calif., says the company has contacted several cities about a potential lease.

The 82-year-old sternwheeler is scheduled to shut down because Congress has refused to grant another exemption from a federal law that bans more than 50 overnight passengers on boats that are largely made of wood. The exemption expired on Oct. 31, 2008.

Owners say the boat, which can carry 176 overnight passengers, can't survive financially if it can only carry 50 passengers.

The Delta Queen's final visit to Cape Girardeau was Oct. 28, 2008, three days before it made its final stop in New Orleans. The historic steamboat has been docked there ever since.