The prospect of a floating hotel resembling a Mississippi riverboat coming to Inverness is starting to sink.
Scottish Canals have pulled out of talks to try and bring the development to the Highland capital.
The Oliver Cromwell paddle steamer, currently moored at Hull, Yorkshire, is being advertised for let by property agent Shepherd Commercial and it is understood that several bids have been made and a preferred occupier has been identified.
But Scottish Canals said yesterday that, despite showing initial interest and carrying out a condition survey on the boat, they were no longer involved in attempts to bring it to the city.
It is understood that the financial viability of the project was a key reason for the collapse of discussions with its present owner, Christie and Co.
Shepherd Commercial and Scottish Canals had hoped to moor the boat at the city’s Muirtown Basin and attract an occupier to run it as a multi-use development with bar and restaurant facilities.
The property agent describes on its website that the proposition is a rare opportunity to operate accommodation as a hostel or hotel that will be the first of its type in the Highlands.
The four deck boat has an outdoor deck that can accommodate up to 50 people, an upper deck restaurant area with enough space to seat up to 80 people, as well as a dance floor, stage and bar.
The mid-deck offers 14 en-suite, twin-bed cabins and a lounge area, and the lower deck contains space used by former cabin crew which can be converted.
The paddle steamer was built from a Dutch freight barge in the early 1990s.
Yesterday a spokesman for Scottish Canals said: “It was something that was being considered initially but we are no longer involved and it won’t be taken any further.”