African Queen, Historic steamboat in Key Largo, United States

The African Queen is a steamboat in Key Largo, Florida, that features a vertical boiler and riveted steel construction. The vessel measures 30 feet in length and navigates through the waterways of the region.

Built in 1912 by Lytham Shipbuilding and Engineering Co. as the Livingstone for the British East Africa Railway, the riveted sheet-iron steamer worked the Ruki River in the northern Belgian Congo, carrying hunters, mercenaries and cargo. Found in Cairo in the 1970s with coal still in its bilges, it was shipped to the United States, passed through several owners and was refurbished in 2012 with an interior steel hull frame and a new boiler.

The boat was originally named Livingstone, after the explorer David Livingstone, and was renamed for the 1951 film with Katharine Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart. It carried hunters, mercenaries and cargo on the Ruki River in the northern Democratic Republic of Congo for most of its first fifty years.

The vessel docks at Marina Del Mar near Mile Marker 100 on U.S. Highway 1 and offers guided trips through the canals. Tours typically last about an hour and run several times each day.

The boat was found in Cairo in the 1970s with coal still in its bilges, then shipped to the United States. Its 2012 refurbishment added an interior steel hull frame and a new boiler, so the present machinery is not the 1912 original.