On Friday, a significant rescue operation unfolded along the Mississippi River near the Port of New Orleans after a tanker vessel collided with a river cruise ship, causing the American Heritage passenger boat to capsize and become largely submerged in the water.
Authorities confirmed that all individuals aboard both vessels had been accounted for, with no fatalities reported.
The considerably larger tanker, identified as the Atlantic Asphalt, struck the paddlewheel cruise boat while it was docked at approximately 12:30 p.m. local time, according to the Port of New Orleans. The American Heritage had arrived at the dock roughly two hours prior to allow passengers to disembark.
During a press briefing held late Friday afternoon, New Orleans Mayor Helena Moreno announced that 32 passengers from the cruise ship had been transported to nearby hospitals for medical treatment, though none sustained critical injuries. The mayor also confirmed that no individuals aboard the tanker were harmed.
New Orleans Harbor Police Chief Melanie Montroll disclosed that two of her officers were hospitalized in the course of the rescue operation, though both were reported to be in good condition.
At the time of the collision, approximately 129 passengers, in addition to crew members, were aboard the American Heritage, according to Port NOLA.
Mayor Moreno stated that the tanker had “lost control” before striking the cruise ship. As passengers were in the process of disembarking, the vessel “began to sink, and then eventually toppled over and flipped,” propelling individuals into the river.
Several people were observed in the water wearing life jackets or clinging to the ship’s railing as the vessel continued to list further into the river. Nearby boats reported rescuing more than a dozen individuals from the water.
Emergency response teams , including Port NOLA Harbor Police, the New Orleans Fire Department, the New Orleans Police Department, and the U.S. Coast Guard , coordinated rescue and response efforts, as confirmed by Port NOLA. Mayor Moreno noted that, alongside local and federal agencies, private vessels that happened to be on the river at the time responded “as volunteers to try and get people out of the water.”
Moreno characterized the successful rescue effort as a “miracle on the Mississippi.”
Eyewitness Jamie Holford recounted to CBS News that he observed the American Heritage strike the dock following the collision. He described watching passengers rush off the boat before, as it rolled over, some were seen climbing over the vessel’s railings.
“It looked like something off the Titanic,” he said.
When asked to describe the sound of the collision, Holford stated, “It sounded like a war movie. Just imagine tons of steel crunching. That’s what it sounded like.”
U.S. Coast Guard Captain Melanie Burnham confirmed that Coast Guard investigators were on site working to establish the cause of the tanker losing control.
“The investigation is still ongoing, there seems to be some kind of a loss of steering,” Burnham told reporters. “The exact reason why, we don’t know that.”
The National Transportation Safety Board also issued a statement indicating it would be dispatching a “Go Team” to the scene on Saturday to conduct its own independent investigation into the incident.
Captain Burnham further noted that efforts were underway to reopen the river, which the Coast Guard had closed at the time of the collision.
“We’re going to start evaluating how to reopen it as soon as possible,” Burnham said.
In a post on Truth Social, President Trump commended the response of the Coast Guard and other law enforcement agencies for “doing such an incredible job of rescue, and other work, having to do with the crash of the two ships in Louisiana.”
The American Heritage was constructed in 2015 and is operated by American Cruise Lines. The five-story vessel has a passenger capacity of up to 150 individuals.
According to a report by The Associated Press, the tanker is owned by a subsidiary of the China State Shipbuilding Corporation , a large Chinese state-owned conglomerate , as indicated by the live shipping tracker MarineTraffic. The vessel specializes in transporting substantial quantities of asphalt and bitumen, a semisolid material commonly used in road construction and roofing applications. CBS News has contacted the tanker’s owner seeking comment.
