Follow-Up: No Deaths in the New Orleans Tanker-Riverboat Collision; 32 Hospitalized, None Critical, as the NTSB Sends a Team
New Orleans Mayor Helena Moreno told a news conference on the afternoon of November 13 that everyone aboard had been accounted for in the midday collision between a tanker and the riverboat American Heritage: no one was missing, 32 cruise passengers were taken to local hospitals, none with critical injuries, and no one was killed.
The collision happened at about 12:30 p.m. Central time. A Port of New Orleans spokesperson said the asphalt tanker Atlantic Asphalt struck the American Cruise Lines paddlewheel riverboat American Heritage at the port while the riverboat, carrying about 129 passengers plus crew, was disembarking guests. The mayor said the tanker "lost control" before the crash; Coast Guard Captain Melanie Burnham said the tanker appeared to have suffered some type of loss of steering, and the cause remains under investigation.
The New Orleans Fire Department sent 23 units and 57 personnel to the response. Local reports said 87 passengers were evacuated before the riverboat capsized, two harbor police officers who entered the water during the rescue were also hospitalized in good condition, and no one aboard the tanker was hurt. The Coast Guard closed the Mississippi River between mile markers 93 and 96.
The National Transportation Safety Board announced that evening that it was sending a Go Team to New Orleans, expected to arrive on November 14. President Trump posted thanks to the Coast Guard and first responders, writing: "Incredibly, nobody was killed by this major collision. 32 people are in the hospital."
(Source: City of New Orleans)
Source: City of New Orleans
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：「美国遗产号」内河游船资料图（图中为该船原名「密西西比皇后号」时期，摄于密西西比河上）。Benroethig 摄，CC BY-SA 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: The riverboat American Heritage in a file photo, pictured under her former name Queen of the Mississippi on the Mississippi River. Photo by Benroethig, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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- 2026-11-13Follow-Up: No Deaths in the New Orleans Tanker-Riverboat Collision; 32 Hospitalized, None Critical, as the NTSB Sends a TeamThis story
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