NEW ORLEANS — A tanker that appeared to lose its steering slammed into a riverboat tied up at the Port of New Orleans on Friday, tipping the passenger boat onto its side as people were getting off. Thirty-two people were taken to hospitals, none with critical injuries, and officials said everyone aboard was accounted for. No one was killed.
The crash happened at about 12:30 p.m. local time near mile marker 96 on the Mississippi River, along the downtown riverfront between the French Quarter and Algiers. The riverboat, the American Heritage, had docked about two hours earlier, and passengers were leaving the boat when the tanker Atlantic Asphalt hit it.
"At this moment, the information that we have, we have zero people unaccounted for," Mayor Helena Moreno said late Friday afternoon. "Which truly is a miracle on the Mississippi."
How it happened, as officials describe it
Coast Guard Capt. Melanie Burnham, who leads the Coast Guard in New Orleans, said the tanker appeared to have had "some type of loss of steering" before it struck the riverboat. The person driving the tanker at the time was a river pilot, she said. A river pilot is a local expert who guides large ships through this stretch of the river.
Why the tanker lost steering is not yet known. "The exact reason why, we don't know that," Burnham said. She also said she had no indication the crash was linked to terrorism.
After the hit, the American Heritage began taking on water. Harbor Police Chief Melanie Montroll estimated it capsized within 30 to 45 minutes. More than 80 people got off safely before it rolled over. About 100 people ended up in the river.
The rescue and the hospital count
The response was large and fast. The New Orleans Fire Department sent 23 units and 57 people. Police, medics, the Coast Guard, state police and other agencies joined in, and boats that happened to be on the river nearby helped pull people from the water. Some passengers were taken into the Port of New Orleans Administration Building for care and help.
Two Harbor Police officers who were aboard the riverboat helping with the rescue when it capsized were thrown into the water. They were taken to hospitals and later released.
The riverboat's captain, Leonard Stewart, stayed on the bridge as the vessel tipped over, calling for help and keeping the boat against the dock as long as he could, American Cruise Lines said. He was injured and was the last person to leave the boat, Moreno said.
In all, 32 people were taken to hospitals. On Saturday, officials said eight people were still in the hospital, two of them in serious condition and the rest stable.
The two vessels
The Atlantic Asphalt is a tanker about 520 feet long that flies the flag of the Marshall Islands. It was built in 2017 and carries asphalt and bitumen, materials used for roads and roofs. Its owner is Nave Shipping S.A., a company based in Liberia. A lawsuit filed by the port also names Thome Ship Management of Singapore, the company responsible for the ship's safety management.
The American Heritage is a paddlewheel riverboat run by American Cruise Lines, a family-owned company based in Guilford, Connecticut. The boat was built in 2015 and can carry up to 150 guests. Officials said about 129 passengers, in addition to crew members, were aboard when the tanker hit. The port later said 197 passengers and crew members affected by the crash had been accounted for, and Moreno said on Saturday that 191 passengers and crew were aboard in total.
The investigation
The National Transportation Safety Board is sending investigators, and the Coast Guard is investigating as well. The board first planned to fly a team in, but the nationwide flight ground stop on Friday forced it to send investigators by ground instead, without a board member. The team began arriving on Saturday.
Hours after the crash, the Port of New Orleans sued the tanker's owner and manager, saying the tanker caused more than $1 million in damage to a terminal and struck the riverboat through negligence. A judge issued a warrant Friday giving federal officials control of the tanker for now. The tanker has since been towed away from the crash site.
President Donald Trump thanked the responders in a post on Truth Social on Friday evening. "Thank you to the United States Coast Guard for doing such an incredible job of rescue, and other work, having to do with the crash of the two ships in Louisiana," he wrote. "Incredibly, nobody was killed by this major collision. 32 people are in the hospital." Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry traveled to New Orleans and also called the outcome a miracle.
Where things stand on Saturday, and what happens next
The riverboat remains on its side against a terminal in the river. The Coast Guard closed the river between mile markers 93 and 96 after the crash, then reopened it on Saturday. A safety zone of 500 feet is in place around the wreck.
Before the boat can be moved, crews plan to remove the 16,000 gallons of fuel aboard it. Burnham said no fuel or cargo had been seen leaking into the river, but warned that harmful materials could escape during the work. Removing the boat will not be quick. "We're talking weeks, we're not talking days, we're talking weeks," Burnham said. "So we're going to do this safely and we're going to make sure that it's done right."
Investigators still have to answer the central question: why a tanker with a river pilot at the controls lost its steering in one of the busiest ports in the country and hit a boat that was tied to the dock.
Reporting note: This story is based on reporting by Reuters, the Associated Press, USA Today, CNN and Fox News, and on statements by the U.S. Coast Guard, the Port of New Orleans, Mayor Helena Moreno, the New Orleans Fire Department, the National Transportation Safety Board and American Cruise Lines. The cause of the collision has not been determined, and officials' early reports of a loss of steering describe what the tanker appeared to do, not a proven cause. Counts of the people aboard changed as officials gathered information; the figures above are attributed to the officials who gave them.
