Mississippi Queen Aground With 400
- Share via
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The Mississippi Queen, a replica of the 19th-Century paddle-wheel boats that plied the Mississippi River, ran aground on a sand bar for two hours on Friday, the U.S. Coast Guard said.
The river boat, carrying about 400 passengers, lodged on a sand bar at a particularly tricky area in the drought-shrunken Mississippi 50 miles north of Memphis, said Petty Officer Dean Jones, a U.S. Coast Guard spokesman. It was refloated with some assistance about two hours later.
The grounding interrupted the “Great Steamboat Race” that matched the 11-year-old Mississippi Queen against its sister ship, the 62-year-old Delta Queen, in a cruise from New Orleans to St. Louis. The race went ahead this year despite record-low water levels in the Mississippi.
Sign up for Essential California
The most important California stories and recommendations in your inbox every morning.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
