The Edmonton Riverboat and around 200 passengers on board were stuck on Sunday, after the boat stopped moving at around 4:09 p.m. during a Mother’s Day Cruise.
The boat came to a stop near the intersection of Scona Road and 99B Street.
In a statement sent Monday morning, Edmonton Riverboat said the boat suffered a mechanical issue where the left paddlewheel stopped responding to the throttle.
“We suspect the port hydraulic pump, located in our engine room below deck, failed,” the company said in the statement.
“We did not lose all propulsion … but with an abundance of caution our captain made the call to gently beach the riverboat and called for Edmonton Fire Rescue Services to help shuttle passengers back to shore.”
City of Edmonton staff told CBC News in a statement Sunday evening that all passengers had been helped off the boat and that crews would then work to get staff out.
“EFRS received a call for assistance at 4:09 p.m. Crews were dispatched (two rescue boats and two land sector crews), arriving on scene beginning at 4:22 p.m.,” according to the emailed statement from the city.
There were no reported injuries.
Edmonton Riverboat said it hopes to get the necessary parts and repair the pump assembly by Thursday, which is its next scheduled event.
This isn’t the first time the boat has been stuck. In a notable incident in July 2019, hundreds of people were stranded overnight.
At the time, crews began evacuating the boat, with nearly 300 people onboard, at around 11:30 p.m. on July 13. It took until 5 a.m. the next day to get everyone to shore.
The trouble on the North Saskatchewan River started when the boat was near Accidental Beach — the current became too swift, and was running in the opposite direction of the boat, preventing it from docking.