Tanker collides with riverboat transporting 129 passengers near New Orleans

A tanker collided with a riverboat on Friday that was transporting 129 passengers down the Mississippi River near the port of New Orleans in Louisiana.

New Orleans Mayor Helena Moreno said 32 people from the boat are in local hospitals, but none have critical injuries. No fatalities have been reported and Moreno said all passengers have been accounted for.

Louisiana Republican Gov. Jeff Landry said President Donald Trump has called and offered whatever support the state needs in the aftermath of the collision and thanked all the agencies helping with rescue operations.

“It is a literal miracle on the Mississippi,” Landry said. “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. The Mississippi River is not some quiet pond, right? I mean, there were challenges out there."

The riverboat was operated by American Cruise Lines, which confirmed the incident to News Nation.

“American Cruise Lines can confirm that our riverboat, American Heritage, was involved in a collision while it was docked in New Orleans,” a spokesperson for the company said. “We are in close coordination with the U.S. Coast Guard and local authorities. Guests and crew were evacuated, and we are deeply concerned for everyone involved.”

The riverboat, which can carry up to 150 passengers, was finishing an eight-day cruise to several Mississippi River destinations in Louisiana and Mississippi, according to the Associated Press.

The tanker involved in the crash specializes in carrying large quantities of asphalt and bitumen, which is a semi-solid substance that is often used for road construction and roofing, though it was not clear whether it was transporting any at the time of the collision.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.