New paddle wheeler to debut on Columbia and Snake rivers

American Cruise Lines will double its capacity for Columbia River sailings in 2016 with the addition of a second paddle wheeler.

The small-ship line on Monday announced it would move its three-year-old, 150-passenger Queen of the Mississippi to the Columbia from its current home on the Mississippi River. The vessel also will be renamed, the company said.

The new riverboat will join American Cruise Lines' Queen of the West on the Columbia and Snake river system.

Taking the Queen of the Mississippi's place on the Mississippi River in 2016 will be the 185-passenger America, a new American Cruise Lines riverboat currently under construction at a shipyard in Maryland.

The redeployment of the Queen of the Mississippi to the Columbia comes as demand for cruises on the river is on the rise, according to river line executives. In addition to American Cruise Lines, two other companies -- American Queen Steamboat Co. and Un-Cruise Adventures -- have a vessel on the river, both added over the past two years.

American Cruise Lines says a new Queen of the Mississippi also is under construction at the Maryland shipyard to be deployed on the Mississippi River.

American Cruise Lines currently operates two riverboats on the Mississippi: The current Queen of the Mississippi and the just-unveiled American Eagle.

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