‘Miracle on the Mississippi’: Passengers, crew rescued after tanker hits cruise ship in New Orleans

New Orleans: A tanker in New Orleans that apparently lost its steering slammed into the docked American Heritage river cruise paddleboat with 180 people aboard on Friday, New Orleans Mayor Helena Moreno said.

All aboard survived after the crash prompted a massive rescue operation for passengers and crew who plunged into the Mississippi River as the ship took on water and began to topple over.

Thirty-two people were taken to hospital, but none had critical injuries, Moreno said, calling it “a miracle on the Mississippi”.

Video from the scene showed the much larger Atlantic Asphalt tanker hitting the paddlewheel cruise boat while it appeared to be docked as metal and glass crashed and crunched.

Tugboat operators, nearby workers, police and several other rescuers rushed to help.

The boat started listing within minutes and flipped while emergency workers were still trying to get everyone off it.

Dozens of people on board and at least two police officers were dragged from the 19-degree water onto nearby ships.

Devon Flanagan was at his job nearby at the Port of New Orleans when workers rushed down the dock. He got out of his truck and noticed the American Heritage on its side and passengers in the water.

“It was just chaos,” he said. “You had all types of ships, like other barges and other companies down there trying to help out, which also was a little convoluted because you had people still in the water.”

The cruise ship was built in 2015 and operated by American Cruise Lines. It is five storeys high and can hold up to 150 passengers.

The American Heritage was finishing an eight-day cruise to several Mississippi River destinations in Louisiana and Mississippi.

The cruise line said it was working with the Coast Guard and would share more information when possible.

According to the live shipping tracker MarineTraffic, the tanker involved in the crash specialises in carrying large quantities of asphalt and bitumen, used for road construction and roofing.

Ships carrying asphalt and bitumen are often heated well above 120 degrees to prevent the asphalt from solidifying aboard, according to the maritime periodical Marine Insights. It is not immediately clear whether the ship was carrying any materials when the crash occurred.

The 160-metre vessel had a final destination in New Orleans, according to MarineTraffic, and was sailing under a flag for the Marshall Islands.

More to come

AP

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