A tanker struck a docked river cruise ship on the Mississippi River in New Orleans on Friday, sending passengers into the water and leaving the vessel on its side. The New Orleans cruise ship crash happened at about 12:30 p.m. local time, when the tanker Atlantic Asphalt hit the American Heritage, a paddlewheel cruise boat operated by American Cruise Lines. Port of New Orleans officials said about 129 passengers were aboard, along with crew members, for a total of roughly 180 to 190 people.
Everyone aboard both vessels was accounted for by Friday evening, officials said, and no deaths were reported. Thirty-two people were taken to area hospitals after the New Orleans cruise ship crash, none with injuries described as critical. New Orleans Mayor Helena Moreno called the outcome a “miracle on the Mississippi” at a news briefing late Friday afternoon.
The 32 people taken to hospital included 30 cruise passengers and two New Orleans Harbor Police officers who were hurt during the rescue, Moreno said. The officers were in good condition. Nearby boats pulled more than a dozen people from the water after the New Orleans cruise ship crash, and CBS News reported that at least 14 people had been rescued from the river.
New Orleans cruise ship crash: how the collision happened
The American Heritage had docked about two hours earlier so passengers could disembark at the end of an eight-day cruise across Louisiana and Mississippi, the Port of New Orleans said. Video provided to CBS affiliate WWL Louisiana showed the tanker striking the side of the paddlewheeler, which slowly listed and rolled onto its side at the point of impact.
Jamie Holford, a witness, told local NBC affiliate WDSU that it took 15 minutes “from impact to where it rolled over.” Speaking to CBS News, Holford said the collision “sounded like a war movie” and added, “Just imagine tons of steel crunching. That’s what it sounded like.”
The American Heritage was built in 2015 and has room for 150 people, according to American Cruise Lines. The ship is a 300-foot paddlewheel vessel that previously sailed as the Queen of the Mississippi. The Atlantic Asphalt is an oil tanker built in 2017, about 525 feet long, according to shipping records.
The Associated Press reported that the tanker is owned by a subsidiary of the China State Shipbuilding Corporation, a Chinese state-owned company, according to the shipping tracker MarineTraffic. CBS News said it had reached out to the tanker’s owner for comment.
Rescue on the Mississippi River
Emergency crews from the U.S. Coast Guard, the New Orleans Fire Department, the New Orleans Police Department and Port NOLA Harbor Police took part in the rescue after the New Orleans cruise ship crash, along with commercial tugboats. The historic riverboat Creole Queen pulled at least 14 people from the river, WWL Louisiana reported.
U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin wrote on social media after the New Orleans cruise ship crash that “we are throwing every asset we have to helping rescue missing passengers.” The New Orleans mayor’s office said on social media that “multiple individuals have been rescued, and search-and-rescue operations remain ongoing.”
Eighty-seven people were evacuated from the ship before it rolled onto its side, police and fire officials said. Passengers who were brought ashore were taken inside the port administration building next to the convention center.
New Orleans cruise ship crash investigation begins
The Coast Guard closed the lower Mississippi River to all commercial vessel traffic between mile markers 93 and 96 at Algiers Point starting at 2:24 p.m. local time on Friday, after the New Orleans cruise ship crash. U.S. Coast Guard Capt. Melanie Burnham said Coast Guard investigators were on scene working to determine what caused the tanker to lose control.
The National Transportation Safety Board said it would send a team of investigators to the scene on Saturday to begin its own inquiry into the cause of the New Orleans cruise ship crash. The cause of the crash remained under investigation on Friday night.
What happens next for the American Heritage
The American Heritage remained on its side and largely submerged in the river on Friday night after the New Orleans cruise ship crash. Officials did not say when the vessel would be righted or removed, or when river traffic in the closed stretch would reopen.