Philly duck boats cease operation; Pittsburgh's still swimming

The ducks in Pittsburgh are OK.

Duck Boats, that is.

The WWII-era amphibious vehicles are an iconic part of the city's tourist infrastructure, eliciting quacks from construction workers, bellhops and policemen as they rumble through Downtown streets before plunging into the Allegheny River and touring the watery parts of the city.

A similar service in Philadelphia announced it was ceasing operations indefinitely because of insurance costs, Billy Penn reported Wednesday.

An employee at Pittsburgh's Just Ducky Tours said the Philadelphia company is unrelated, and Pittsburgh's has no plans to close shop. Indeed, Just Ducky Tours was taking reservations for tours throughout the day.

The Philadelphia duck boat company's insurance woes may be related to several fatal accidents in recent years. In 2015 a boat ran over a tourist at a busy intersection, killing her. In 2010 a barge on the Delaware river failed to see a duck boat and plowed over it, killing two .