Duck boats return to Delaware River without so much as a quack

Captain Norm - no need for formalities here - tried as hard as he could but couldn't extract one "quack" yesterday from members of the Philadelphia media.

The captain, known in real life as Norm Schultz, drove DUKW 51 and its passengers, a group of photographers, reporters and officials from the city and Ride the Ducks, on a preview tour of the company's new route.

Once the amphibious vessel was in the Delaware River, Schultz pointed out Captain Dave in a new emergency-response boat near Pier 5. "Let's give him a big old-school quack," he said.

The plastic quackers remained silent.

But if the company's predictions about its business in Philadelphia are correct, there will be plenty of quacks yelled out by enthusiastic kids and their parents starting today when Ride the Ducks reopens for business.

The tours, at $27 a pop for adults and $23/$17 for kids under 17 and under 13, were suspended in July after one of its boats was involved in a fatal accident.

A city sludge barge, towed by a tugboat, struck and sank DUKW 34 on July 7 with 37 passengers and two crew aboard. Two students from Hungary were killed.

The mate operating the tug was on his cellphone dealing with a family crisis, according to a National Transportation Safety Board investigation. The duck boat was shut down by its captain that day because smoke began to emit from the engine compartment, according to the investigation. Once shut down, the captain couldn't use the airhorn, which was connected to the electrical system. (This flaw is now corrected, according to officials.)

The duck boat's new water route has been shortened to about 10 minutes and goes out only 70 to 100 feet from shore.

"If you examine the facts of the accident, you'll be very comfortable with the decision the Coast Guard, the city and our company has made about returning to operations," said Chris Herschend, president of Ride the Ducks.

In a statement released yesterday by the lawyers representing the victims' families, attorney Holly Ronai asked, "How safe do you think these vessels are if Ride the Ducks has a permanent search-and-rescue boat on standby on the river for their 10 minute 'family fun' voyage?"