GREENVILLE – The old girl has weathered many storms, but her body is still great for a 90-year-old.

The steamship Katahdin, which has plied the pristine waters of Moosehead Lake since it was assembled in 1914 at Bath Iron Works, will celebrate its birthday next month with a moonlight cruise featuring entertainment and refreshments.

“She’s never been better,” Duke McKeil of Greenville, executive director of the Moosehead Marine Museum, said Thursday.

Affectionately called “Kate,” the steamship has spent a lifetime on Moosehead Lake, first ferrying wealthy passengers to and from the famed Kineo House, later as a tugboat hauling log booms from inlets to the Kennebec River outlet and now providing cruises for the public.

Its importance to the region has never lessened over the years; rather, it has become a significant player in the region’s tourism economy.

“She is sort of the biggest, single recreation attraction in the region,” McKeil said.

Because the Kate represents the oldest floating vessel made at BIW and the last link to the steamboat era on Moosehead Lake, BIW officials are “chipping in” to help promote this milestone, he said. McKeil said the shipbuilder’s public affairs office has made limited edition posters of the steamboat and plans to sell them to help the continued restoration efforts.

Built for the Coburn Steamship Co., the 250-ton vessel first provided transportation from Greenville to points around the lake. In addition to wealthy passengers, the ship hauled horses, tractors and logging supplies to lumber camps that operated around the 40-mile-long lake.

When lake transportation declined, Scott Paper Co. took over the steamship and used it to haul log booms on the lake for several years before it was discarded. The boat was abandoned, but its historical value was not lost on a group of local residents who formed a nonprofit organization specifically to obtain the Katahdin.

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the vessel has been restored over the years, but more is needed.

Problems with the ship’s clutches created a little setback earlier this year, but those have been repaired, and the Kate has been operating smoothly since June.

“Mechanically, she is in pretty good shape,” McKeil said.

Fund raising has begun for the overhaul of the ship’s two engines, which is expected to cost about $30,000, according to the museum director. He said donations are being sought from foundations, and grants requests are being submitted. Ticket sales, which are down this summer, help cover the day-to-day operation of the ship.

About 1,000 fewer tickets have been sold this summer, which McKeil said is a reflection of the local economy in general.

“My feeling is that tourism overall is down in the state,” he said. McKeil said ticket sales also have been affected by the less-than-ideal weather and the fact that the ticket prices are $2 more this year to cover higher fuel and insurance costs, he said.

McKeil is optimistic, however, that business will pick up in the fall as it typically has in past years. Tourists enjoy plying the waters of Moosehead, observing the autumn colors.

One thing is certain though, that the Katahdin will continue to ply the waters for years to come because of the dedication to and the support for the beloved vessel, he believes.

The birthday moonlight cruise will be offered at 7 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 14, leaving from the Katahdin’s mooring at Greenville. Tickets are $35 per person. For more information, call 695-2716.