Mechanical issues disrupt Edmonton Riverboat’s Mother’s Day cruise
Posted May 11, 2026 2:59 pm.
More than 200 passengers on the Edmonton Queen riverboat were left stranded on Mother’s Day Sunday, when a mechanical issue disrupted one of the first sailings of the season.
Edmonton Riverboat suspects the issue was due to a failure of the port hydraulic pump, a spokesperson told CityNews, leading to the port-side paddlewheel no longer responding to throttle commands.
“We did not lose all propulsion as we still had our starboard (right) paddle wheel, but with an abundance of caution our captain made the call to gently beach the riverboat,” the statement reads.
Christa Jones, who was visiting from Camrose, was on the cruise with her mother, aunt and kids. She called the affair a “unique experience.”
“We were on the boat for the hour doing the brunch and then we started sailing and it wasn’t even 30 minutes when we stopped on the side of the river,” Jones recounted. “We were told there was a mechanical issue and they were going to get it fixed.”
Fire crews, including two rescue boats and two land sector crews, were dispatched just after 4 p.m. to help passengers evacuate. The first crew arrived on scene near the intersection of Scona Road and 99B Street at 4:22 p.m., Edmonton Fire Rescue Services told CityNews.
“I don’t think other passengers were scared, we were just more worried, ‘how long are we going to be on here and how are we going to get off,’” said Jones. “Because we were on one side of the boat looking at the hill, and they had put down one of the ramps and the firefighters were on top of the hill looking down, and I was like, there is no way people are going to climb up that hill.”
Those aboard were brought to shore around 7:30 p.m. No injuries were reported. The cruise was initially scheduled to end at 4 p.m.
“Our marine crew gently drifted the Edmonton Queen back to our dock using two jetboats to keep her on course. She has been secured safely since about 9:30 PM last night,” the statement from Edmonton Riverboat reads.
The company is hoping to get the parts and replace the pump to be back and running for their next scheduled event on Thursday night.
This is not the first time the Edmonton Queen has faced issues; the riverboat was stuck in July 2019, forcing a late-night evacuation.
