Ride the Ducks reopens in Branson after Philadelphia accident last week

Ride the Ducks has reopened its Branson location after a fatal accident July 7 in Philadelphia shut down its nationwide operations.

The tours have also been reopened in Atlanta and San Francisco.

Tours at its Newport, Ky., location are expected to reopen soon, according to the St. Louis Business Journal. Operations in Stone Mountain, Ga., have also reopened, according to the Gwinnett Daily Post, a newspaper near Norcross, Ga.

Norcross, Ga. based-Herschend Family Entertainment Co., owners of Ride the Ducks, shut down operations July 8, the day after the accident on the Delaware River left two passengers dead.

The Ducks vessel was struck by the 250-foot long empty sludge barge The Resource, according to a National Transportation Safety Board report.  The barge was being pulled along by the towing vessel Caribbean Sea.

The crew of the Ducks vessel, a master and a deckhand, reported to the NTSB that the vessel had experienced mechanical problems about 10 minutes before the collision. Hails to the Caribbean Sea received no response, Ducks crew members told the NTSB.

The NTSB investigation is ongoing.

The company shut down operations to review maintenance procedures, but inspections confirmed the safety of the vessels, Ride the Ducks President Chris Herschend told the St. Louis Business Journal July 12.

Philadephia operations will remain closed until further notice.
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