Nearly 60 years to the day after the riverboat Delta Queen cruised past Vicksburg on its maiden trip on the Mississippi, federal legislation filed to exempt the boat from safety regulations has attracted 12 members of the U.S. Senate from eight states as co-sponsors.

Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, a veteran backer of the Delta Queen, initiated the bill. Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Miss, Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and Sen. David Vitter, R-La., are among co-sponsors.

Because its superstructure is wood, the Delta Queen violates the 1966 Safety of Life at Seas Act. The owners have operated the passenger steamer under an exemption, which expires this year. Voinovich would have the exemption extended to Nov. 1, 2018. Without the bill, the Delta Queen could not be allowed to board more than 50 passengers or operate overnight cruises.

Nine renewals of the initial exemption have passed, but for now the owners say the steamer will make its final stop in Vicksburg on Nov. 3.

Vicki Webster, leader of the Save the Delta Queen Campaign based in Cincinnati, said in a telephone interview that the bipartisan support is encouraging.

“In four of the states represented by co-sponsors, both senators have signed on.” She pointed out that in three of the four — Iowa, Indiana and Ohio — the two senators come from opposing parties.

The Delta Queen first steamed past Vicksburg on Sept. 17, 1948, and the boat’s current owner, Majestic America Line, has been billing this fall’s tours as the 2008 Delta Queen Tribute Event.

During the stop here, Vicksburg Mayor Laurence Leyens is expected to board the Delta Queen and read a proclamation honoring the boat’s history and place in Vicksburg lore, said Barry Graham, city communications director. Eight representatives from the city will be invited to board at 3 p.m., tour the boat and participate in the farewell celebration that will follow on the bow.

The public is invited to City Front for the festivities, which will begin at 4 p.m. Music will be provided by the onboard band and the boat’s steam-powered calliope, the captain will be introduced and make a special presentation to the city, and Leyens is expected to speak.

“I’d encourage people to go down and take a look at it,” Graham added. “They may not get another chance. It’s been an icon coming to Vicksburg and a big benefit to the community,” he said, with tourists coming through Vicksburg onboard the Delta Queen disembarking to shop downtown and at Outlets at Vicksburg.

Graham said that TV23 will send a videographer along for the tour to film it for public viewing on the community channel. A previously taped tour of the riverboat has been airing on the community channel in recent days, said Tracy Tower, videographer for the city. Tower is also scheduled to tape a telephone interview with Webster this afternoon on the issues involved in keeping the Delta Queen afloat. The interview will be shown on TV23 in coming days, she said.

Graham said he and others in the city worked with the mayor conducting a letter-writing campaign to senators, congressmen and representatives at Majestic when they heard the ship would be taken out of commission as its current exemption from SOLAS expired.

According to Vanessa Bloy, director of public relations for Majestic, in an interview last month, the cruise line is continuing to focus on the effort to get the congressional exemption passed.

And the Save the Delta Queen Campaign said on its Web site that even with Voinovich’s legislation introduced, advocates for keeping the boat operating its overnight river cruises should continue to write not only to urge passage of the bill, but also to thank legislators who have already come out in support.

The Delta Queen was built for $1 million and launched in California’s Sacramento River in the mid-1920s. Along with its twin, the Delta King, the boat served as a luxury cruise ship in the Sacramento Delta until World War II, when it saw duty with the U.S. Navy. After the war it was auctioned to Greene Line Steamers of Cincinnati for $46,250 and shipped in watertight containers via the Panama Canal to New Orleans. In 1948 the Delta Queen resumed passenger service on the Mississippi, Ohio, Tennessee and Cumberland rivers. The boat has been owned by several companies since then, most recently purchased by Ambassadors International, owners of Majestic America Line, in 2006. It is joined on the river cruises by two larger boats that comply with the regulations, the Mississippi Queen and the American Queen.

The Delta Queen was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970 and declared a National Historic Landmark in 1989.