The Port of New Orleans is asking a federal court to seize an asphalt tanker and hold it for sale after the vessel lost steering on the Mississippi River and T-boned a docked river cruise ship, injuring more than 30 people and causing at least $1 million in damage to port property.
The lawsuit, filed Friday in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana and obtained by FOX Business, names the M/V Atlantic Asphalt, its owner Nave Shipping SA, and its management company Thome Ship Management Pte Ltd. The port alleges the tanker and its operators were negligent and failed to take adequate precautions to avoid the collision. The suit also seeks compensation for cleanup, repairs, and potential business interruption and lost revenue.
Chief U.S. District Judge Wendy Vitter granted the port's emergency request Friday, finding that circumstances warranted the vessel's prompt arrest. The court issued a warrant authorizing the tanker's seizure. It was not immediately clear whether the warrant had been executed. The port is also seeking the tanker's potential sale to satisfy its financial claims. No sale has been ordered.
The collision occurred around 12:30 p.m. Friday near the Crescent City Connection bridge in New Orleans. The tanker appeared to lose steering control before striking the American Heritage, a river cruise ship managed by American Cruise Lines, causing the cruise ship to capsize and partially sink. The Associated Press reported that the tanker is owned by a subsidiary of a Chinese company.
Emergency responders pulled roughly 100 people from the water, according to New Orleans Mayor Helena Moreno. Thirty-two people were taken to hospitals, including two police officers thrown into the Mississippi River when the boat rolled. No fatalities or critical injuries were reported, though eight people remained hospitalized Saturday, including two in serious condition, said Jen Avegno, the deputy mayor for health and human services. The American Heritage had 191 passengers and crew members aboard, according to NBC News.
The National Transportation Safety Board said the tanker's voyage data recorder has been recovered. NTSB member John DeLeeuw said the agency expects to release a preliminary report within 30 days, with the final investigation report expected in 18 to 24 months. A 16-member team will spend a week in New Orleans investigating the incident.
Coast Guard Capt. Melanie Burnham told reporters Saturday that 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. The first step is to make sure the 16,000 gallons of fuel on the boat are removed safely, she said. Traffic has been limited on the Mississippi River, but Burnham said boats should be able to move both upstream and downstream soon. She said the tanker appeared to lose steering, but the exact cause of the crash is not known.
In a statement Saturday, OSM Thome said the tanker was stable at anchor and that the company was cooperating with authorities investigating the collision. "OSM Thome is fully complying with the local authorities as they carry out the necessary investigations," the company said. "We would like to extend our sincere gratitude to all parties and personnel who responded to this incident with urgency and humanity."
Representatives for the Port of New Orleans, OSM Thome, American Cruise Lines and the U.S. Coast Guard did not immediately respond to FOX Business' requests for comment.
The lawsuit alleges that the tanker and companies failed "to use all available means to avoid the risk of" colliding with the stationary riverboat, noting that a presumption of fault arises when a ship hits a stationary object. The complaint accuses the tanker and the companies responsible for its operation of negligence, alleging they failed to take adequate precautions to avoid the collision.
Our Take
Here's what Americans should be asking: why was a foreign-owned tanker with a history of steering problems allowed to navigate one of the busiest ports in the United States without safeguards? The Atlantic Asphalt didn't just bump a dock — it plowed into a cruise ship packed with 191 people, sending dozens to the hospital and nearly turning a family vacation into a mass-casualty event on the Mississippi River.
The port's lawsuit is the right move. If the owners won't step up voluntarily, seize the vessel. Sell it. Make them pay for every dollar of damage, every hour of lost business, and every dime of cleanup. The fact that a judge granted the emergency arrest warrant within hours shows the court understands the stakes.
But this goes beyond one ship and one lawsuit. The American Heritage was docked. Stationary. Defenseless. And a foreign-owned tanker lost control and T-boned it in broad daylight. If a vessel can't be steered safely through the Port of New Orleans, it shouldn't be there. The NTSB and Coast Guard need to determine whether this was a mechanical failure, human error, or something worse — and they need to do it fast.
Americans deserve to know who is operating these ships, where they're from, and whether they're meeting basic safety standards. The Mississippi River is not an international waterway for reckless operators. It's an American artery. It's time to treat it like one.
