Early last month the MV Enterprise was hired to work with the MV American Queen on her up river voyage on the Ohio from Maysville, KY.

The American Queen is said to be the largest river steamboat ever built. The ship was built in 1996 and is a six-deck recreation of a classic Mississippi river boat built for the Delta Queen Steamboat Company.

Although the American Queen’s stern paddlewheel is indeed powered by a genuine steam plant, her secondary propulsion comes from a set of diesel-electric propellers known as Z-drives on either side of the stern wheel. She has 222 state rooms for a capacity of 436 guests and a crew of 160. She is 418 feet (127m) long and 89 feet (27m) wide and is currently owned by the American Queen Steamboat Company.

The crew of the Enterprise was excited to work with the vessel and her crew on this upriver voyage into Pittsburgh.