NEW ORLEANS — President Donald Trump thanked the U.S. Coast Guard on Truth Social on Friday evening for its rescue work after a tanker struck a docked riverboat in New Orleans, a collision he said killed no one but sent 32 people to the hospital.
Trump wrote the post after Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry said he had spoken directly with the president about the crash. Landry said Trump told him Louisiana would have whatever support it needed.
“Thank you to the United States Coast Guard for doing such an incredible job of rescue, and other work, having to do with the crash of the two ships in Louisiana.”
“Likewise, all of Law Enforcement and First Responders were fantastic! Incredibly, nobody was killed by this major collision. 32 people are in the hospital. Thank you to Governor Jeff Landry for your outstanding leadership during this very agonizing period of time.”
What happened on the Mississippi
The tanker Atlantic Asphalt hit American Cruise Lines’ American Heritage at about 12:30 p.m. local time, Port of New Orleans spokesperson Kimberly Curth said. The riverboat had docked about two hours earlier to begin letting passengers off.
About 129 passengers, in addition to crew members, were aboard when the tanker hit, officials said. The American Heritage had a capacity of 150 people, according to the cruise line.
Mayor Helena Moreno said passengers began getting off after the collision, but the riverboat then began to sink. It toppled over and flipped, and people went into the water.
Rescue and the hospital count
Moreno said at a Friday afternoon news conference that 32 people from the riverboat were taken to local hospitals. None had critical injuries, she said, and everyone aboard had been accounted for.
“At this moment, the information that we have, we have zero people unaccounted for,” Moreno said. She called that outcome a miracle on the Mississippi.
Port NOLA Harbor Police, the New Orleans Fire Department, the New Orleans Police Department, the Coast Guard and emergency medical personnel all responded. The fire department said 23 units and 57 personnel went to the port.
Some passengers were taken into the Port of New Orleans Administration Building at 1350 Port of New Orleans Place for triage and help.
Landry called the rescue a literal miracle. “It is a literal miracle on the Mississippi,” he said.
American Cruise Lines said guests and crew were evacuated. “We are in close coordination with the U.S. Coast Guard and local authorities,” the company said. “Guests and crew were evacuated, and we are deeply concerned for everyone involved. We will share more information as it becomes available.”
Tanker lost control, river closed
Moreno said the Atlantic Asphalt “lost control” before it hit the riverboat. Coast Guard Capt. Melanie Burnham said the tanker appeared to have had “some type of loss of steering,” though the exact reason was not yet known.
The collision happened near mile marker 96, Coast Guard Heartland District spokesperson Tasha Smith said. “The river is closed to all vessel traffic between mile markers 93 and 96 while responders assess the situation and conduct response operations,” Smith said.
The National Transportation Safety Board said on X that it is launching a Go Team to investigate the collision and that the team expects to arrive on Saturday morning. Board Member John DeLeeuw will be the agency’s spokesperson on the scene.
Officials had not said when the closed stretch of river would reopen. The cause remained under investigation on Friday evening.