A collision between an American Cruise Line boat and an Atlantic Asphalt oil tanker on the Mississippi River on Friday afternoon, just off the Port of New Orleans in Louisiana, left 12 people in the water.
A massive, multi-agency response to the incident was underway, after which all of the 12 people in the Mississippi River were rescued, the mayor of New Orleans said.
American Cruise Lines’ American Heritage was docked outside the Port of New Orleans Place when the oil tanker reportedly struck it around 12:30pm CDT. 12 people were in the water as the boat partially overturned.
The mayor of New Orleans Helena Moreno said that the oil tanker lost its steering and slammed into the cruise ship docked near the Port of New Orleans.
“We have zero people unaccounted for, which truly is a miracle on the Mississippi,” Mayor Moreno said. She added that 32 people were taken to the hospital. None of them had critical injuries.
An eyewitness video surfaced showing the boat tumbling slowly as panicked passengers scrambled to hold on to it. Emergency workers were already on the scene and had rescued around 150 people on board. The rest fell into the water and were rescued by local law enforcement.
The National Transportation Safety Board is set to investigate the incident.
Mayor Moreno said that there were around 180 passengers and crew members on the American Heritage cruise. Most of them were not from New Orleans.
The Port of New Orleans said in a statement that their priority is “the safety of all passengers, crew members and first responders.”
This remains an active and evolving incident. The number of injuries and the cause of the allision have not yet been confirmed,” the statement added. “Additional updates will be provided as information is confirmed.”