Katherine Kersten: Could Oberstar sink the majestic Delta Queen?

For decades, the Delta Queen's tall stack has been a familiar sight in St. Paul and other river towns such as Red Wing and Winona. Children wave and a vintage steam calliope plays as the elegant 81-year-old steamboat majestically makes her way down the Mississippi, bound for ports including St. Louis or Hannibal, Mo.

The Queen is the last steam-powered riverboat still carrying overnight passengers on American waters. With her Tiffany lamps and rare Siamese ironwood floors, she recreates a bygone era -- down to a bell from the steamboat that carried Mark Twain as he researched his "Life on the Mississippi."

But the Queen's fabled journeys are apparently coming to an end, thanks to one powerful man in Washington, Minnesota Rep. Jim Oberstar.

The Queen must cease her long-distance voyages in November 2008 unless an exemption can be obtained from a federal law forbidding wooden superstructures on vessels that carry 50 or more passengers on overnight trips, according to Majestic America Line, which owns the boat.

Since the law went into effect 40 years ago, Congress has repeatedly exempted the Queen. But this year, Oberstar, Minnesota's Eighth District congressman and powerful chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, has blocked it. In previous years, and as recently as last year, Oberstar has voted at least twice to support the Queen's exemption.

What's changed?

Majestic blames special-interest politics. When the company bought the Delta Queen last year, it refused to negotiate a contract with the Seafarers International Union.

The Seafarers union previously represented most Delta Queen workers. The union had supported the exemption in the past, but now opposes it, says Joseph McCarthy, general counsel for Ambassadors International, which owns Majestic.

The company believes this played a big role in Oberstar's decision. "We were shocked and dismayed that the influence of a union could change this exemption," says McCarthy.

He adds that the union told Majestic that it "could help change" Oberstar's mind if the company agreed to support the union.

Oberstar, who is recovering from surgery, maintains through a spokesman that safety is the only issue. Spokesman John Schadl emphasizes that the Coast Guard opposes the exemption, as it has in past years.

In October, Oberstar told the New York Times that it is "immoral" to "say that I would negotiate a deal to put people's lives at risk in return for a contract for a union." The union never approached the committee about the exemption, Schadl says.

Officials at the Seafarers union could not be reached for comment Wednesday. But a statement on the union's website adamantly denies that it "could or would" guarantee approval of the waiver. The statement said the union makes "every effort to assist our contracted companies" and potentially could "present a persuasive argument" concerning the exemption because of its safety expertise.

Dennis Shenk, who recently retired as the Delta Queen's chief engineer, says that the boat is "absolutely safe -- safer than hotels and the office building you're sitting in."

Though its decks and superstructure are wood, its hull is steel. The boat's state-of-the-art fire safety system can instantly pinpoint any problem and is monitored 24 hours a day, he says.

The safety law was written with oceangoing vessels in mind and "shouldn't even apply to the Delta Queen," adds Schenk. It is certainly hard to see why, after granting the Queen an exemption for decades, Congress has suddenly discovered a safety threat.

The very real threat to the Delta Queen's future has provoked an outpouring of support from her legions of devoted fans. "She is a true American classic," says Jonathon Tschiggfrie of St. Paul, who has posted a video about the issue on YouTube.

Click here to see Save the Delta Queen video .

An online petition to save the Queen is gathering signatures, and more than 100 cities and towns have passed resolutions calling on Congress to extend the exemption. Rep. Steve Chabot, R.-Ohio, has introduced a bill granting a 10-year extension. Its 17 bipartisan co-sponsors include DFL Rep. Tim Walz of Minnesota's First District.

But these efforts are up against a powerful current. House members may hesitate to cross Oberstar out of concern about getting approval for their own pet projects in his committee.

Katherine Kersten kkersten@startribune.com Join the conversation at my blog, Think Again, which can be found at www.startribune.com/thinkagain.