members of the crew stayed aboard to facilitate the vessel's return to Juneau under her own power. She was escorted en route there by Coast Guard helicopter and a third small cruise ship. The National Transportation Safety Board undertook a multi-month investigation, concluding that the "probable cause" of the accident was primarily the inexperience of a ship's officer. The Empress of the North was repaired at the shipyards of Vigor Industrial in Portland, Oregon, by Vigor Marine LLC, and returned to service on July 7, 2007. Renaming and return to service (2014) The American Queen Steamboat Company, owner and operator of the U.S-flagged American Queen, announced on May 22, 2013, that it had purchased the Empress of the North from the U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD) and that it would rename the ship American Empress and resume sailings from Portland, Oregon, in April 2014. On April 5, 2014, American Empress was christened in Portland. The Empress had been out of service for five years. She is the largest overnight riverboat west of the Mississippi River. The ship's home port is now Vancouver, Washington (in the Portland metropolitan area) and her normal route will follow the Columbia and Snake Rivers between Astoria, Oregon, and Clarkston, Washington, with 32 sailings scheduled for 2014, in the period April–November. See also Tourist sternwheelers of Oregon List of river cruise ships References External links American Empress (ex-Empress of the North) at Steamboats.org 2002 ships Maritime incidents in 2007 River cruise ships Passenger ships of the United States Ships built in Washington (state)