New Orleans port officials sue owner of tanker that hit cruise ship

New Orleans port officials have sued the owner of a tanker that lost control and crashed into a cruise ship on the Mississippi River.

All of the 197 passengers and crew onboard the docked American Heritage cruise ship survived, along with the crew on the tanker, after the collision on Friday.

New Orleans Mayor Helena Moreno called the major rescue operation "a miracle on the Mississippi".

Officials said 32 people were taken to hospital, including two police officers thrown into the river when the boat rolled, although none of the injuries were critical and only eight remained in hospital on Saturday.

Hours after the crash, the Board of Commissioners of the Port of New Orleans filed a lawsuit to make sure federal investigators can seize the tanker, which is owned by a subsidiary of a Chinese company.

According to the filing, the Atlantic Asphalt caused at least $1m in damage to its terminal.

A judge issued a warrant on Friday, giving federal officials control of the ship.

The tanker has been towed away from the site, but it could take weeks to move the cruise ship, which remains turned on its side against a terminal in the Mississippi River, Coast Guard Captain Melanie Burnham said on Saturday.

The first step is to make sure the 16,000 gallons (60,500 litres) of fuel on the boat are removed safely, she said.

Traffic has been limited on the river, but Captain Burnham said boats should soon be able to move both upstream and downstream.

She said the tanker appeared to lose steering, but the exact cause of the crash is not yet known, Burnham said.

The National Transportation Safety Board is sending investigators to New Orleans.

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The American Heritage was finishing an eight-day cruise to several Mississippi River destinations at the time of the crash.

Passenger Joe Knab told WDSU-TV he heard the tanker blasting its horn as it floated toward the cruise ship, which was hit hard before immediately starting to lean.

The crew gathered everyone on the third deck to put on life vests and start getting them off the boat, but it suddenly rolled and sent Mr Knab and about 100 other passengers and crew into the muddy river, where the water was 19C.

Tugboat operators, other cruise ship captains, nearby workers, police and other rescuers rushed to help.

"It's fine now, but it was a little scary there at the time. I thought I was drowning because I kept bobbing underneath - and the water doesn't taste very good," Mr Knab told the television station.

He said he was in the water for about 15 minutes and joked his 20 years in the Navy likely helped him to survive.

"They taught us not to drown," he said.

The ship is owned by a company called Nave Shipping SA, which is registered in Monrovia, Liberia, according to the International Maritime Organization and was one of the defendants in the lawsuit filed Friday.

Nave Shipping is a subsidiary of the China State Shipbuilding Corporation, a sprawling Chinese state-owned conglomerate, according to the live shipping tracker MarineTraffic.

China State Shipbuilding Corp did not respond to an emailed request for comment.

(c) Sky News 2026: New Orleans port officials sue owner of tanker that hit cruise ship