A massive tanker on Friday afternoon crashed into a cruise ship docked along the Mississippi River in New Orleans, causing a massive emergency response that included rescuing numerous passengers from the chilly waters.
Officials reported that 32 people were being treated for their injuries at local hospitals, a number that included at least two law enforcement officers who had been trying to evacuate passengers as the cruise ship capsized and sank. Remarkably, all other passengers appeared to be safely accounted for Friday evening.
“It is a literal miracle on the Mississippi,” Gov. Jeff Landry (R) told reporters in a news conference.
Kimberly Curth, a Port of New Orleans spokeswoman, said the incident happened approximately 12:30 p.m. local time when an Atlantic Asphalt tanker crashed into the docked American Cruise Lines’ American Heritage ship that had docked about two hours earlier.
An estimated 129 passengers, in addition to crew members, were aboard the American Heritage at the time.
Video from the scene showed the startling moment of impact when the tanker, which apparently made a hard right turn while traveling down the river, rammed into the side of the cruise ship.
Footage showed the passenger ship soon beginning to list before toppling over on its right side, then becoming largely submerged in the river. Other videos showed people in life jackets being pulled from the water by rescue crews.
State and local officials praised the rapid response from the Port NOLA Harbor Police, the New Orleans Fire Department, the New Orleans Police Department and the U.S. Coast Guard.
In addition, New Orleans Mayor Helena Moreno (D) said other boats that happened to be nearby also responded voluntary to help pluck people from the water.
“It was an all-hands-on-deck response,” said Moreno, who said that based on the information officials had early Friday evening, “We have zero people unaccounted for.”
No one on the Atlantic Asphalt tanker suffered injuries, she said.
U.S. Coast Guard Capt. Melanie Burnham said she shut down traffic on the river after the incident, which happened near the well-known tourist attraction Mardi Gras World. But she said she hoped to soon allow the river to reopen for commerce.
Burnham also said that while it seemed clear that the tanker had suffered “some sort of a loss of steering,” investigators would soon dig more deeply into the cause.
“We are going to get down to the bottom of exactly what happened here,” Landry said.
According to the American Cruise Lines website, the paddle wheeler cruise ship that sank was built in 2015 and can carry 150 guests.
Even as the precise cause of Friday’s incident remained unclear, for some locals it brought back memories of an accident from 30 years earlier not far from the same spot.
On Dec. 14, 1996, a fully loaded cargo ship called the Bright Field lost propulsion power while traveling down the Mississippi and struck the Poydras Street wharf at about 2:11 p.m.
According to the National Transportation Safety Board, its bow damaged portions of the Riverwalk Marketplace, a condominium parking garage and the Hilton Riverside Hotel, causing an estimated $20 million in damage.
No one died in that accident, and no one aboard the Bright Field suffered injuries. But more than 60 people were injured during the evacuation of riverfront facilities and nearby vessels, according to the NTSB.
On Friday, the agency said it was “launching a Go Team” to investigate the collision on the Mississippi and expected a team to arrive Saturday morning.
The post Tanker strike sinks cruise ship in New Orleans, plunging passengers into river appeared first on Washington Post.
