Sternwheeler cruise comes to abrupt halt

PORTLAND – A luxury sternwheeler cruise ship with nearly 300 people on board ran aground during a Columbia River cruise on Friday, and the Coast Guard was transferring the passengers to safety aboard another ship.

The 360-foot Empress of the North ran aground on a sandbar in the river channel near Washougal, Wash., said Petty Officer Mike Zolzer at the Coast Guard regional office in Seattle.

No one was reported injured.

A sister ship, the 230-foot Queen of the West, pulled alongside to take aboard passengers and crew members from the Empress of the North, Zolzer said.

A tug wedged a barge between the ships to ensure stability and passenger safety during the transfer, he said.

The ships are owned by American West Steamboat Co., based in Seattle.

David Giersdorf, American West president, said 180 passengers and 80 crew members were on board.

The company planned to pull the ship off the sandbar with a tug and see whether it could continue under its own power.

The company was taking the passengers to a hotel for the night and would provide them dinner before making a determination on whether they could complete their cruise.

The Empress of the North left Astoria on Sunday for a weeklong cruise of the Columbia.