The captain of the riverboat tells stories. From discovery to a way of life and love, Captain Don Sanders tells the tales of his lengthy relationship with the river. This is a segment of a lengthy and ongoing narrative.
By Capt. Don Sanders, NKyTribune Special
Regretfully, I saw a video last week showing the S.S. UNITED STATES departing Philadelphia while being towed to Mobile, Alabama, where it would eventually sink as an artificial reef off the Florida panhandle.
I was overcome with sorrow as I watched the legendary ocean liner, once our country’s glory of the sea, rusting and fading, embark on her last journey. I pondered how America’s dedication to maritime supremacy could have been compromised by the loss of such a valiant vessel.
Then I remembered that identical journeys had just been made by the last of our finest inland riverboats.
American Queen Voyages (AQV), the owners of the AMERICAN QUEEN, the final overnight riverboat on the Mississippi River system, announced that it was halting operations and canceling all upcoming excursions exactly one year ago today, February 20, 2025. The AQV’s four other overnight riverboats, the AMERICAN COUNTESS, DUTCHESS, and EMPRESS, were similarly stranded and unable to operate.
An anonymous riverboat enthusiast claims that all four of the boats were up for auction and swiftly seized by the American Cruise Line, a competitor who provided overnight excursions on the Western Rivers, before you could wave goodbye to overnight steamboating.
Additionally, my anonymous source revealed that the entire cost of the four opulent overnight river cruisers was only 4.5 million dollars, which is a king’s ransom to most people who are fighting to manage a carton of hen’s eggs these days, but only a trifle for four riverboat royalties. My insider went on to say that the customer only used 100-ton boats. I was curious as to why a seasoned cruise line company would bid on and buy four ships from a much larger class that it had no idea how to operate after reading the source’s response.
The AMERICAN QUEEN, DUTCHESS, and COUNTESS were headed for the boneyard before I could fully realize the magnitude of the loss of more than two centuries of nighttime steamboat service on the Western Rivers. What do you say? Since then, images of the American Queen’s devastation have gone viral on social media, showing the once-opulent floating palace being dismantled.
I never served on the American Queen, but when I escrowed away my U.S. Coast Guard Continuity license, a previous captain asked me to join the crew. The loss of the AQ and the quietus of nocturnal steamboating had an almost equal impact on me as the current precarious situation of the DELTA QUEEN, a steamer I co-commanded when I was only thirty years old. As a senior in the family tree of steamboaters on the Mighty Mississippi and its tributaries, I long to understand why the company went out of business and how soon their ships ended up in the wreck yard.
There are at least two editions, as is the case with all stories. The AQV outfit’s inability to properly recover from the COVID-19 epidemic was cited in some extensively disseminated press reports as the cause of its financial bankruptcy. Others involved in the fluvial disaster, however, pointed to poor management on the part of AQV and Hornblower Corp., its parent company.
Someone said, “Management all walked away with golden parachutes,” without providing an explanation for what happened to the 800 riverboat employees who were informed on the same day the enterprise collapsed.
It’s unclear if management made money off of the disaster. Nonetheless, there is ample conjecture that the demise of a great American institution such as overnight steamboating was influenced by foul play. As a result, more questions must be asked in order to get better answers. What are your thoughts?
Purchase Captain Don Sanders The River book here
CLICK HERE TO BUY YOUR RIVER BOOK.
Don Sanders, Capt.With handling and relevant taxes included, The River: River Rat to Steamboatman, Riding Magic River Spell to 65-Year Adventure is currently available for $29.95. With hundreds of photographs from Capt. Don’s collection, this stunning hardcover book, published by the Northern Kentucky Tribune, is 264 pages of captivating narrative that captures his painstaking journaling, unparalleled storytelling, and attention to detail. Every fan of the river should have this important historical book in their library.
The book is available for purchase at all Roebling Books stores, the Behringer Crawford Museum, and the St. Elizabeth Healthcare gift shops. It can also be ordered by mail from the Northern Kentucky Tribune.
Get your copy of Captain Don Sanders’ The River by clicking this link.
