Today, 128 duck-style boats have certificates to remain in service with several companies, according to the U.S. Herschend's 90 or so boats are latter-day replicas, manufactured at a Branson, Missouri, shop and designed to look like the WWII workhorses. Most were scrapped after the war, but entrepreneurs converted a few dozen for jolly excursions across land and water for tourists. built 21,000 of the vessels, officially called DUKWs, between 19, when production ceased. The original duck boat, with a standard Army six-wheel truck frame and a propeller, was designed to ferry troops and materiel from warships to land during World War II. The company owns Ride the Ducks operations in six locations, as well as the Dollywood theme park in Tennessee, Stone Mountain Park in Georgia, and other attractions. Ride the Ducks is a subsidiary of Herschend Family Entertainment of Norcross, Georgia.
Since starting operations in Philadelphia in 2003, Ride the Ducks has safely transported more than 1 million passengers on more than 42,000 tours in the Pennsylvania city, a company statement said. "Thirty-three years we've been in this business, Ride the Ducks, and we've never had so much as a wet shoelace before this tragedy," Herschend told CNN. They had no idea they were on an accident waiting to happen," said Holly Ostrov Ronai, one of the attorneys who filed the suit.īut officials with the Coast Guard and Ride the Ducks say the vessels have an excellent safety record. "There is no doubt that Dora and Szeb, on their first trip to America, thought they were safe when they boarded the duck boat. Video: Ill fated duck boat lifted from water In a statement released to the media, Herschend pointed to the tugboat's failure to heed repeated radio calls alerting it to the disabled vessel in its path.Ī lawsuit filed on behalf of the students' parents claims, among other things, that duck boats are inherently unsafe. The company is working out details with the U.S. Ride the Ducks has suspended its Philadelphia operation since the accident, but company President Chris Herschend said he expected tours to resume soon. Ten other passengers suffered minor injuries, according to a National Transportation Safety Board initial report released September 10.
Two student tourists from Hungary, Dora Schwendtner, 16, and Szabolcs Prem, 20, drowned. On July 7, a 250-foot sludge barge pushed by a tugboat overran a disabled 33-foot Ride the Ducks tour boat, plunging the amphibious vessel with its 35 passengers and two crew members under the surface of the Delaware River in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (CNN) - A wrongful death lawsuit filed in the aftermath of a July boat accident questions the safety of amphibious tour vessels, but the so-called duck boats' record indicates just two fatal accidents in more than 50 years of service.
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