Florida company says famed Mississippi steamboats back on river

NEW ORLEANS - The Delta Queen and Mississippi Queen steamboats, along with a headquarters and 300 jobs, will be coming back to New Orleans. <br> <br> American Classic Voyages of suburban Fort Lauderdale, Fla., agreed Thursday to sell the boats to a Chicago investment firm. Privately held Waveland Investments LLC plans to take over the boats officially next month. <br> <br> The Mississippi Queen stopped operations in October and the Delta Queen followed in January after American Classic Voyages, which was hit hard by a decline in tourism following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, went to bankruptcy court. <br> <br> The Mississippi Queen is to begin cruising again May 7 and the Delta Queen will take on passengers Aug. 26, said Jordan Allen, executive vice president and general counsel for American Classic Voyages. <br> <br> Allen said Waveland Investments plans to locate a headquarters for the two steamboats in New Orleans and will create about 300 jobs. In the past, the boats had a headquarters in New Orleans, but that operation was lost in late 2000 when American Classic Voyages moved to Florida. <br> <br> Waveland is paying $3.75 million for the two vessels and has agreed to commit up to $10 million in working capital. <br> <br> The deal is subject to an auction May 3 in Chicago. Allen said the ships could go to another company if a higher bidder emerges at the last minute <br> <br> Allen said Waveland also wants to buy other American Classic ships, including the Cape Cod Light and Cape May Light, and the American Queen and the Columbia Queen paddlewheelers. <br> <br> Waveland Investments is an owner of the Fred Harvey Management Co., which manages lodging concessions in national parks such as the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Mount Rushmore and in some Four Seasons and Westin hotels. Those assets generate about $500 million in annual revenue and employ 7,500 people. <br> <br>

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