LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Towboats, pumps, divers and a huge floating crane stabilized the Belle of Louisville Sunday night and the 83-year-old sternwheeler was not in danger of sinking, officials said.
Ken Meredith, the Belle's executive director, said the boat was not slipping further into the river. He said officials had not determined what caused the boat to take on water and drop the stern about 10 feet into the river.
The sight drew hundreds to Louisville's Ohio River wharf Sunday.
''It's kind of a landmark. '' said Dennis Stengel, who came to the waterfront with his wife and 12-year-old daughter. ''To Louisvillians, it's a lot like the Titanic sinking.''
The sternwheeler, owned by Jefferson County since 1962, was built in 1914 and began her career as a freighter. It is now operated jointly with the city as an excursion boat that can accommodate up to 800 people.
It is well known to Greater Cincinnatians. In addition to appearances at Tall Stacks, the Belle has raced the Delta Queen in the annual Great Steamship Race, held prior to the Kentucky Derby. The Delta Queen won that contest this year, tying the annual rivalry at 16 victories each.
A night watchman discovered the problem on the unoccupied steamboat about 7 a.m. EDT Sunday, about six hours after the crew left following a Saturday night cruise.
Meredith said finding a cause might take several days.
A crew member, Marty Mitchell, said something must have happened abruptly, ''much like a seam separating, for a lot of water to go in quickly and for it to go down very quickly.''
''If it slipped out into the channel, we'd have a big problem,'' said Milton Hettinger, a diver called in by McBride's Fleet marine service company to feel around in the murky water and relieve the pressure valves on the Belle's boilers.
Officials said the water drops off to about 35 feet deep in the busy shipping channel about 30 feet from where the 200 feet long by 46-foot wide boat is tied up.
Up to several hundred people at a time lined the riverfront to see the boat, her tall stacks leaning. The paddlewheeler normally draws such a crowd only when it competes in the Great Steamboat Race each year during the week of the Kentucky Derby.
Many spectators turned Sunday's rescue efforts into a family outing.
''It's just history,'' said Natalie Neal, who along with her husband and 22-month-old son combined the sightseeing trip with a daily walk. ''Everybody came down for the same reason, black, white, rich, old, poor, everybody. Louisville is known for the Derby and the Belle.''
Tom Owen, a local historian and city alderman, called the boat a ''symbol of the opening up of the interior west, symbol of Americana in the 19th century.''
''It's just a vital part of our city.'' he said. ''Anybody that comes to town always goes to see the Belle.''
