The New Orleans Steamboat Company and Gray Line Tours have announced a plan for the construction of a new Mississippi Riverboat for New Orleans.
Gordon Stevens, President & CEO of the two companies, announced that the new boat will complement the Steamboat Natchez running harbor cruises, dinner cruises and private charters.
The 160-feet long and 36-feet wide steamboat will sport a traditional look and will be licensed to carry 600 passengers. The ship will include three passenger decks, a dining room that can seat 200 passengers, a full service galley and bars.
The marine architectural firm DeJong and Lebet of Jacksonville, FL has been hired to begin designing the ship. The new boat should be completed and sailing in New Orleans in late 2017.
“The riverboat, usually a paddlewheel or sternwheel steamboat, was the main mode of transportation along the Mississippi during most of the 19th century. Their fanciful designs reflect the response of Victorian engineers to the challenges of the tidal treachery, as well as a bit of the stylistic whimsy of the time. Carrying cargo of all kinds to and from New Orleans, the river steamboats were the main link between the American mid-section and the rest of the world, with the Crescent City as the primary transfer point to oceangoing vessels.”
– in “Steamboats: An American Legend Lives On,” OffBeat Magazine.
