Tanker Capsizes Docked New Orleans Riverboat; Officials Say All Aboard Are Accounted For
The asphalt tanker Atlantic Asphalt struck the docked American Cruise Lines riverboat American Heritage on the Mississippi River in New Orleans on Friday, capsizing the paddlewheeler as passengers were preparing to go ashore.
The collision occurred at about 12:30 p.m. local time, or 1:30 p.m. ET, near the Port of New Orleans and the French Quarter, the Port of New Orleans said. About 129 passengers, plus crew, were aboard. The riverboat had docked about two hours earlier to begin letting passengers off.
Mayor Helena Moreno said Friday afternoon that all passengers and crew had been accounted for. Thirty-two people were being treated at a local hospital, including two New Orleans Harbor Police officers who went into the water after it capsized, The Times-Picayune | The Advocate reported. Officials have not announced any fatalities.
“Guests and crew were evacuated, and we are deeply concerned for everyone involved,” American Cruise Lines said in a statement, adding that it was working closely with the U.S. Coast Guard and local authorities.
Rhonda Akers, a passenger, told NBC News she had to crawl to safety. “After the initial crash, it hit us again and we flipped over and I had to crawl over the railing and people to save myself,” she said. Akers said her husband was hospitalized with a head injury.
A witness, Jamie Holford, told CBS News the impact “sounded like a war movie” and like “tons of steel crunching.” “It looked like something off the Titanic,” he said, describing passengers and crew shouting as they tried to get off the sinking boat.
The Coast Guard closed the river to all vessel traffic between mile markers 93 and 96, near the Crescent City Connection. “Right now, our focus is on finding and caring for those who were aboard,” the agency said in a statement released by The Times-Picayune. The city’s ferry service across the river was suspended.
Gov. Jeff Landry said he was “in close contact with local officials and law enforcement” and was headed to New Orleans. He later met with rescued passengers at the port administration building, along with Moreno. Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser told ABC News he feared the outcome could be “pretty bad,” noting that river cruises often draw older passengers. He later said the cruise line asked him to find hotel rooms for 85 passengers, The Times-Picayune reported. A senior White House official told NBC News that President Trump had been briefed.
The Port of New Orleans said the cause of the collision had not been confirmed. Moreno said at a news conference that the tanker “lost control” and struck the cruise ship, the BBC reported.
River pilots told The Times-Picayune the tanker, which had been heading upriver, appeared to make a “hard turn starboard.” They said a steering failure was possible, though one of them, Mike Delesdernier, cautioned that it was too soon to say. Geaux River’s Fleetwatch said its analysis “suggests the vessel may have experienced a steering and/or power failure.”
The Atlantic Asphalt is a roughly 500-foot tanker flagged in the Marshall Islands, according to the port and vessel-tracking services cited by The Times-Picayune. NBC News, citing public records, said it is owned by Chinese and Liberian companies. Tracking services listed it as registered to Nave Shipping SA of Liberia, the newspaper reported. A river-pilot source told the paper the tanker was empty and bound for Garyville, Louisiana, to load cargo before a trip to Singapore.
The American Heritage, a 295-foot paddlewheeler built in 2015, can carry about 150 guests. It had been scheduled to begin a multi-night cruise on the Mississippi River, according to American Cruise Lines and local reports.
The Coast Guard said more information would be released as it became available.
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