Historical paddle steamer may disappear from Mississippi.

Wooden paddle steamer Delta Queen will be taken out of service in the Mississippi river by the end of the year 2008 if transportation authorities do not prolong its exclusive right to cruise in spite of the nonconformity to fire safety regulations. Historical paddle steamer has been working in the river since the year 1926 - firstly as a scheduled steamer and for the last decades as a cruise ship, - in-country journalist of Travel.ru reports. Regulation acts enacted in the year 1960 require water crafts of such size to be constructed from inflammable materials. Since that time the steamer has been availing of special exemption as a historical ship. Fans of the steamer have launched a campaign for prolonging its permission to cruise and even created a special site Save-the-Delta-Queen.org. The steamer holds 176 passengers and performs long cruises along the whole Mississippi river.