American Classic Voyages

American Classic acquired the Delta Queen Steamboat Company, operators of the famous river boat Delta Queen, along with their acquired subsidiary American Hawaii Cruises, who operated the cruise liners Independence and her sister Constitution, in 1993. In the mid 1990s American Classic was in good shape, with the paddle boats of the Delta Queen Steamboat Company often running at maximum passenger capacity, while the American Hawaii Cruises fleet ran at fairly large passenger capacity but had small MARAD repair loans unpaid. In 1996 Constitution, at 45 years of age, was in need of extensive repairs. These repairs were not carried out, and the Constitution sank while under tow to a scrapyard on November 17, 1997, in over 10,000 feet of water. The wreck was unrecoverable, although insurance would cover her loss.

American Classic Voyages then purchased the Holland America Line cruise ship Nieuw Amsterdam and renamed her the Patriot to operate her in Hawaii beginning on December 9, 2000 under the brand name United States Lines, a revival of the original company which had ended operations in 1986. American Classic Voyages then bought the small coastal cruise ships Cape May Light and Cape Cod Light in hopes of starting a new subsidiary company for these vessels called American Coastal Voyages.

Project America

The Patriot was reregistered in the United States by special act of Congress as a "stop gap" until a pair of new 72,000 ton cruise ships could be completed in an American shipyard. The decision to relaunch United States Lines was taken, due to the historic connotations of the brand name and the strong association of the American Hawaii brand with its aging ocean liners, being deemed unsuitable for the fresh, modern image American Classic Voyages hoped to create for their Hawaiian operations.

A contract was signed with the Litton-Ingalls yard in Mississippi for construction of the two new ships for United States Lines under the code name Project America. The US government contributed considerable support in the form of loan guarantees, tax credits and a construction mortgage from the Maritime Administration. American Classic Voyages planned to have put six vessels into service by 2004.