Update: all aboard the New Orleans riverboat survived, and the Port is suing the tanker for $1 million

Everyone aboard the riverboat American Heritage survived Friday's crash in New Orleans, and the Port of New Orleans has already gone to federal court. This updates our Friday report, which was written before casualty figures were known.

What changed since Friday

• No deaths. FOX 8 reports that everyone aboard and every rescuer made it out alive, and that it took nearly 45 minutes to get everyone out of the river and onto dry land. Officials said 32 people went to hospitals with non-critical injuries; FOX 8 says that group includes two harbor police officers. Headlines from AP, Reuters and the BBC carry the same outcome, the BBC calling it a "Miracle on Mississippi."
• A different headcount. Early reports, including ours, said 129 passengers. FOX 8 says the Port of New Orleans put the number aboard at 192, while its own related headline says "nearly 150 people." We cannot reconcile those figures, and the final manifest has not been published. Treat all three as unconfirmed; the survival outcome does not depend on which is right.
• A federal lawsuit. According to FOX 8's reading of the court filing, the Board of Commissioners of the Port of New Orleans sued Friday evening in the Eastern District of Louisiana. It names the tanker Atlantic Asphalt, Nave Shipping SA (a Liberian company the suit calls the registered owner and manager) and Thome Ship Management Pte Ltd (a Singapore company the suit says handles the ship's safety management). It alleges damage to the Thalia Street Terminal of "at least $1 million," with more costs expected.
• A warrant for the ship. FOX 8 says court documents show an arrest warrant directing federal marshals to seize and hold the Atlantic Asphalt. The suit blames "negligence, gross negligence, fault or carelessness." Those are the Port's allegations, not findings, and the defendants had not responded in anything we read.
• The investigation. Because of the nationwide FAA ground stop, the National Transportation Safety Board said it would send a team of investigators by ground instead of a board member, according to a statement quoted by FOX 8. Our ground stop coverage has the wider flight disruption.

What the legal terms mean

FOX 8 notes the word "allision": a moving ship hitting one that is stationary or moored, as opposed to two moving ships colliding. The American Heritage was docked, having tied up about two hours earlier to begin disembarking passengers, Port NOLA said. In maritime law, a suit against a vessel itself (an "in rem" claim) lets a claimant seek a lien on the ship, which is why a seizure warrant matters: it can keep the vessel in port while ownership, insurance and liability are sorted out. That is our plain-English explanation of the process, not a statement from the court.

The practical angle

For anyone shipping on the lower Mississippi, the thing to watch is whether the tanker stays held and whether the Coast Guard issues navigation restrictions around the wreck. We have not read any official closure notice, so we are not reporting one. Check the Coast Guard's New Orleans sector for notices before committing time-sensitive cargo. Passengers and families should rely on American Cruise Lines and the Coast Guard for official information.

The cause is unknown. Marine casualty investigations by the NTSB usually take many months, and nothing here assigns blame.

Sources: FOX 8 / WVUE, Nov. 13 and 14, 2026 (fox8live.com); headlines from AP, Reuters, BBC, The Guardian and WWL-TV. This is news information, not legal advice.