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Cruise Ship Gets Stuck In Ice Harbor Dam Locks by KOMO Staff & News Services Seattle Times - October 23, 2003

RICHLAND -- A cruise ship got stuck overnight in the navigation lock at Ice Harbor Dam on the Snake River after striking the lock's gate.

There were no injuries to the 188 passengers or 84 crew members aboard the Empress of the North when it struck the lock at about 5:40 p.m. Wednesday, said Gina Schwetz, spokeswoman for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which operates the dam.

The passengers were removed from the 360-foot-long ship late Wednesday and taken to hotels in the Richland area. The passengers were bused to Portland, Ore., on Thursday, and were to receive refunds for their trip, said Joel Perry, vice president for the ship's operator, American West Steamboat Co. of Seattle.

Repair crews were able to free the ship Thursday afternoon. A tugboat pulled the ship downstream until it could turn around and travel on its own power to Troutdale, Ore., for inspection, while the lock was to be drained and inspected, Schwetz said.

The paddlewheel ship was in the third day of an eight-day cruise up the Columbia and Snake rivers to Lewiston, Idaho, with a scheduled stop in Astoria, Ore. on the return trip, before docking in Portland.

Perry said the company was investigating what caused the ship to hit the gate.

"We have gone through that lock four times before with the Empress. This is the first time there's been a problem," he said.

The Empress was built and launched this summer.

A diver inspected damage to the ship Wednesday evening and found two dents to the hull, each between 5 and 6 inches deep. One was about 30 feet long, Schwetz said.

The hull was not punctured and the ship was deemed seaworthy, but because the dents were near the fuel tank, the Coast Guard will require a more thorough inspection, she said.

American West, which has been in operation since 1995, offers cruises to Alaska and on the Columbia, Snake and Willamette rivers on two paddlewheelers.

Related Sites:
American West Steamboat Company

American West Steamboat Company Itinerary Comparison Chart
Please use this chart as a quick reference for which features are included on each cruise itinerary.
Feature or Shore Tour	7-Night Lewis & Clark Cruise Round-trip Portland	7-Night Three Great Rivers Round-trip Portland	8-Night Path of the Explorers Round-trip Portland	11-Night Northwest Exploration Portland to Seattle
Astoria	x	x	x	x
Astoria Column	x	x	x	x
British Columbia Royal Museum				x
Bonneville Dam		x	x	x
Butchart Gardens				x
Cannon Beach		x
Clarkston / Lewiston		x	x	x
Confederated Tribes Native Dances		x
Columbia Gorge Cruise	x	x	x	x
Columbia Gorge Discovery Ctr.		x	x	x
Columbia Gorge Interpretive Ctr.			x	x
Columbia River Maritime Museum	x	x	x	x
End Of The Lewis & Clark Route	x	x	x	x
Fort Canby	x		x	x
Fort Walla Walla			x	x
Hells Canyon Jet Boat		x	x	x
Holiday Theme Cruises	x	x	x
Ilwaco Heritage Museum			x	x
Lake Quinalt				x
Lelooska Native Dance Program	x
Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center	x		x	x
Lewis & Clark’s Fort Clatsop	x	x	x	x
Lewis & Clark’s Station Camp	x		x	x
Long Beach, Washington			x	x
Longview, Washington	x	x		x
Makah Cultural Center				x
Maryhill Museum of Art		x		x
Mt. Hood Railroad			x
Mt. St. Helens	x	x	x	x
Multnomah Channel	x	x	x	x
Multnomah Falls	x	x	x	x
Nez Perce Interpretive Program			x	x
Noted Lewis & Clark Historian	x
Onboard Historian	x	x	x
Oregon Trail History	x	x	x	x
Portland Art Museum	x
Portland Hotel Overnight	x		x
Pendleton Real West Show		x
Pendleton, Oregon		x
Puget Sound Cruise				x
Salmon Bake with Native Dances				x
San Juan Islands Cruise				x
Seattle				x
Seattle City Tour				x
Special Lewis & Clark Programs	x
Stonehenge Memorial		x		x
Tamastslikt Cultural Institute		x
The Dalles, Oregon		x	x	x
Transit 8 Locks and Dams		x	x	x
Victoria, Canada				x
Vista House	x	x
Walla Walla			x	x
Whitman Mission			x	x
Willamette River Cruise	x	x	x	x
Wine Tasting	x	x	x	x
Winery Tour			x	x
Feature or Shore Tour	7-Night Lewis & Clark Cruise Round-trip Portland	7-Night Three Great Rivers Round-trip Portland	8-Night Path of the Explorers Round-trip Portland	11-Night Northwest Exploration Portland to Seattle
2004 Departure Dates		3/20, 3/27, 4/24, 5/1, 5/8, 5/15, 5/22, 5/29, 6/5, 6/12, 6/19, 6/26, 7/3, 7/10, 7/17, 7/24, 7/31, 8/7, 8/14, 8/21, 8/28, 9/4, 9/11, 9/18, 9/25, 10/2, 10/9, 11/6, 11/13, 11/20, 11/27, 12/4, 12/11, 12/19, 12/26	2/14, 2/21, 3/13, 3/20, 3/27, 4/3, 4/10, 4/17, 4/24, 5/1, 10/3, 10/10, 10/17, 10/24, 10/31, 11/7, 11/14, 11/21, 11/28, 12/5, 12/12, 12/19, 12/26	5/9 Portland - Seattle 9/23 Seattle - Portland