Tanker Hits Docked Cruise Ship in New Orleans, Impact to Port Unclear

A tanker struck a docked river cruise ship at the Port of New Orleans on Friday afternoon, forcing a rescue on the Mississippi River and closing a three-mile stretch of the waterway.

The tanker Atlantic Asphalt hit American Cruise Lines’ American Heritage at about 12:30 p.m. local time outside 1350 Port of New Orleans Place, according to Port of New Orleans spokesperson Kimberly Curth.

The riverboat had docked about two hours earlier to begin disembarking passengers. Nearly 130 passengers plus crew members were aboard when the cruise was hit.

According to New Orleans mayor Helena Moreno, all crew and passengers have been accounted for and there have been no fatalities. Thirty-two people have been hospitalized, but Moreno says no one is in critical condition.

During a news conference, Moreno said the ship “lost control” before hitting the American Heritage. The exact cause of the collision had not been confirmed Friday afternoon, the port said in a statement.

“The passengers began disembarking from the (American Cruise Lines) ship after that collision, but while that was happening, the cruise ship began to sink, and then eventually the cruise ship toppled over and flipped,” Moreno said. “Now, when that occurred, we started to have people in the water.”

Local news video showed a capsized boat leaning against a dock.

“It is a literal miracle on the Mississippi,” said Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry said during the conference. “When you think about the population that was on that cruise ship, and the ability for us to get them off, get them out of the water.”

It is unclear if terminal operations at the port have been impacted by the crash.

Sourcing Journal reached out to Port NOLA.

Port NOLA Harbor Police, the New Orleans Fire Department, the New Orleans Police Department, the U.S. Coast Guard and emergency medical personnel responded, and officials set up a triage area inside the Port of New Orleans Administration Building.

The National Transportation Safety Board is aware of the incident but has not yet announced if it will open an investigation.

After the incident, the Coast Guard closed the river to all vessel traffic between mile markers 93 and 96, Coast Guard Heartland District spokesperson Tasha Smith said.

The scale so far is smaller than the last major U.S. vessel allision, when the container ship Dali struck a pillar of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore in March 2024, causing the bridge’s collapse and killing six construction workers.

The ship channel to the Port of Baltimore was closed for about 11 weeks until it fully reopened that June. The port was still ranked No. 11 nationally by tonnage in March 2026, down from No. 9 before the collapse, with the Maryland Port Administration’s executive director Jonathan Daniels describing the port as still in rebound and recovery mode.

The New Orleans collision occurred near a port that is Louisiana’s only international container gateway and the sixth-largest cruise port in the U.S.

The port is currently developing a major terminal, Louisiana International Terminal in Violet, St. Bernard Parish, where the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers granted the federal permit authorizing construction in August.

The terminal is being developed with Ports America and Terminal Investment Limited, the terminal arm of Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), which committed $800 million toward the $1.8 billion project when it was announced in December 2022.

Construction is expected to begin in 2026 and take approximately five years.