On a Friday afternoon on the lower Mississippi, a loaded asphalt tanker swerved off course and struck a paddleboat cruise ship tied up at the dock, a reminder of how much depends on a single steering system in a crowded river. The Port of New Orleans has now turned to federal court, seeking to hold the tanker's Liberia-based owner and its Singapore-based safety manager answerable for damage it estimates will exceed a million dollars. Whether the collision was a mechanical failure or a failure of care is still being weighed by investigators, and the court will in time decide what those who work
Port of New Orleans Sues Tanker Owners After Atlantic Asphalt Rams Docked Paddleboat
Up to 200 passengers were rescued from the water and dozens were taken to hospitals, though officials said no one died or was gravely injured.
The cruise ship capsized and sank quickly, leaving as many as 200 in the water
Mark
Why did the port move so fast? The crash was Friday afternoon and the suit came that night.
Mimi
The port owns the Thalia Street Terminal where the American Heritage was tied up, so it has its own direct damage. Its lawyers put physical damage at more than $1 million.
Luke
That figure is the port's attorneys' estimate in a filing, not an independent assessment. The suit also says more damages are expected, so there's no final number.
Mark
Who is being sued?
Mimi
Nave Shipping, the Liberia-based owner of the Atlantic Asphalt, and Thome Ship Management, a Singapore-based firm the suit says was responsible for enforcing safety codes aboard.
Luke
Worth noting that's the suit's description of Thome's role. We haven't heard from either company in what's been reported.
Mark
And the cause? A steering problem?
Mimi
A Coast Guard official said Friday a steering issue likely triggered it. The ship swerved sharply starboard into the cruise ship.
Luke
Likely is doing real work in that sentence. Officials say the cause is still under investigation, so negligence is alleged, not established.
Mark
What about the people on board?
Mimi
As many as 200 passengers were rescued from the water. Officials say no one died or was gravely injured, but dozens went to hospitals.
Luke
And we don't know yet how many were hospitalized or how serious those injuries were beyond that description.
Il Polso
- A tanker veered sharply to starboard and rammed the American Heritage, which capsized and sank within moments of the impact.
- As many as 200 passengers were thrown into the water, and rescuers pulled them out while dozens more were taken to hospitals.
- The Port of New Orleans filed suit late Friday in federal court, targeting the tanker's owner Nave Shipping and safety manager Thome Ship Management.
- A Coast Guard official pointed to a likely steering failure, though the investigation is still open and the allegations of negligence remain untested.
- The port expects its losses to climb past the initial million-dollar estimate, and passengers or the cruise operator may soon file claims of their own.
On a Friday afternoon on the lower Mississippi, a loaded asphalt tanker swerved off course and struck a paddleboat cruise ship tied up at the dock, a reminder of how much depends on a single steering system in a crowded river. The Port of New Orleans has now turned to federal court, seeking to hold the tanker's Liberia-based owner and its Singapore-based safety manager answerable for damage it estimates will exceed a million dollars. Whether the collision was a mechanical failure or a failure of care is still being weighed by investigators, and the court will in time decide what those who worked the ship owe to those who were standing on the dock.
Late Friday afternoon, the Atlantic Asphalt, a tanker heading up the lower Mississippi, swerved hard to starboard and slammed into the American Heritage, a paddleboat cruise ship tied up at the Thalia Street Terminal. The ship capsized and sank quickly, leaving as many as 200 passengers in the river. Officials say no one died or was gravely injured, but dozens were taken to hospitals, and the scene of cold water and sudden panic is the part that lingers.
The Port of New Orleans responded the same night by filing suit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. The complaint names Nave Shipping, which owns the tanker and is based in Liberia, and Thome Ship Management, a Singapore firm alleged to have been responsible for enforcing safety codes aboard the vessel. The port says the terminal was significantly damaged through negligence, and its attorneys expect direct, indirect and consequential losses to push the total well beyond the initial estimate of more than $1 million.
The cause is not yet settled. A Coast Guard official said a steering issue most likely triggered the crash, but that is a preliminary view, and the investigation continues. The negligence claims are allegations the defendants have yet to answer. The port's suit may prove to be the first of several, as passengers and the cruise operator weigh their own claims.
Late on Friday, the Port of New Orleans went to federal court over a collision on the lower Mississippi River. It sued the owners of the asphalt tanker Atlantic Asphalt, which had veered off course and slammed into a paddleboat cruise ship tied up at the dock.
The suit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, in New Orleans. It names two defendants. One is Nave Shipping, a Liberia-based company that owns the tanker. The other is Thome Ship Management, a Singapore-based firm that, according to the lawsuit, was responsible for enforcing safety codes aboard the vessel.
The collision happened Friday afternoon. The Atlantic Asphalt was heading up the lower Mississippi when it swerved sharply to starboard and struck the American Heritage, the cruise ship moored at the dock. The American Heritage capsized and sank quickly. As many as 200 passengers ended up in the water and had to be rescued.
Officials have said no one died or was gravely injured. Even so, dozens of people were sent to hospitals.
The port's complaint appears to be the first lawsuit to come out of the disaster. The port owns the Thalia Street Terminal, where the American Heritage was docked. According to the filing, the terminal was significantly damaged through the carelessness or negligence of the companies responsible for operating the Atlantic Asphalt safely.
The port's attorneys wrote that physical damage to the terminal is expected to exceed $1 million. They added that further substantial direct, indirect and consequential damages are anticipated, which suggests the final figure could be considerably higher.
What caused the crash has not been settled. Officials have said the cause remains under investigation, though a U.S. Coast Guard official said Friday that a steering issue likely triggered the collision. That is a preliminary assessment, not a finding, and the lawsuit's claims of negligence are allegations that the defendants have yet to answer.
The Advocate describes this as a developing story. Passengers, the cruise operator and others affected may bring their own claims, and the port's suit against Nave Shipping and Thome Ship Management could prove to be the first of several. The Coast Guard investigation is the next thing to watch.
Citazioni salienti
The Thalia Street Terminal was significantly damaged through carelessness or negligence of the companies responsible for operating the tanker safely.— Port of New Orleans lawsuit
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