American Heritage Salvage Expected to Take Weeks as 8 Remain Hospitalized After New Orleans Tanker Crash

Since the Atlantic Asphalt tanker struck the docked riverboat American Heritage near the Port of New Orleans on Friday, Nov. 13, the focus has shifted from rescue to recovery, and the recovery looks long.

Coast Guard Capt. Melanie Burnham, commander of Sector New Orleans, said Saturday that removing the capsized vessel will take time. "We're talking weeks, we're not talking days, we're talking weeks," she said. "So we're going to do this safely and we're going to make sure that it's done right."

The salvage

Crews are preparing to pull about 16,000 gallons of fuel off the American Heritage before salvage work starts. Divers are expected to assess the hull. Pollution response teams are watching the river for leaks.

Burnham said responders have not seen any product in the river that requires removal. She warned that hazardous materials could escape once the operation begins.

The count

Mayor Helena Moreno said 191 passengers and crew were aboard. Gov. Jeff Landry has called the outcome a "miracle on the Mississippi." Moreno said no one is unaccounted for and no one died.

About 100 people ended up in the river, Moreno said. Harbor Police Chief Montroll said officers and responders got more than 80 people off the boat before it flipped. She estimated the vessel capsized within 30 to 45 minutes of the impact. She said the exact timeline is still under investigation.

A boat from a local barge company pulled more than a dozen people from the water, Moreno said. Officials credited life jackets and the speed of nearby vessels.

Thirty-two people went to hospitals Friday: 30 passengers and crew, plus two responders. Jen Avegno, the deputy mayor for health and human services, said two more went later for evaluation. As of Saturday, eight remain hospitalized. Two are in serious condition and six are stable.

The captain was injured and was the last person off the vessel, Moreno said. He declined treatment until he knew where everyone was. "Every moment of the critical time, he did not want to leave his ship," she said.

Cause and liability

The cause is not established. Burnham said the Atlantic Asphalt appeared to have "lost control" and that the "exact reason why" it may have lost steering is unknown. Investigators are looking at a possible steering problem. Burnham said she has no indication the crash is terrorism-related.

National Transportation Safety Board officials said at a Saturday afternoon briefing that investigators are on scene collecting evidence. They plan to begin interviewing crew members in the coming days. The Coast Guard and the NTSB are leading the investigation. A nationwide airport ground stop delayed some NTSB staff on Friday night, Moreno said.

The legal fight started within hours. The Port of New Orleans sued to ensure the seizure of the tanker. The suit says the ship is owned and managed by a Liberia-based company, Nave Shipping, and names Thome Ship Management of Singapore. It says the tanker caused more than $1 million in damage to a New Orleans terminal.

The complaint alleges the strike on the riverboat came "as a result of the negligence, gross negligence, fault or carelessness" of the tanker, Nave Shipping and Thome. Those are allegations in a civil filing. The tanker's steering failure has not been confirmed as the cause.

Landry has taken a different tone on the river itself. He described the crash as a freak accident and said the busy Mississippi remains a safe way to travel. He said the state will make "any adjustments necessary" once investigators determine what happened.

Stranded passengers

The American Heritage, managed by American Cruise Lines, was set to begin a seven-day cruise to Mississippi. Landry said passengers may be stuck in New Orleans for a while because of the investigation, lost documents and Friday night's flight groundings. State officials say they will make sure passengers are taken care of.

The river itself is also affected. The Coast Guard has closed a three-mile stretch near the port. The salvage timeline puts the length of that disruption in weeks, not days.

Two things will show whether the steering-failure theory holds: the NTSB's crew interviews, and what the tanker's own equipment and records show. Both are due in the coming days. The port's lawsuit will test who pays for the terminal damage and the salvage.