Investigators from the National Transportation Security Board arrived in downtown New Orleans on Saturday and began scouring the scene where a tanker ran into a moored luxury paddleboat on the lower Mississippi River.
The 16-person team of federal agents visited the accident site and retrieved a black box-like device from the Atlantic Asphalt tanker, which rammed into the parked American Heritage cruise vessel shortly after noon on Friday, an NTSB official said.
Apart from that, the federal after-action inquiry is in its early stages and the official, NTSB member John DeLeeuw, offered up few details Saturday for public release. DeLeeuw said the agency will prepare a preliminary report on the accident’s causes within 30 days, and then a final report within one year to 18 months.
The river cruise boat American Heritage lies partially submerged as a U.S. Coast Guard vessel floats by in the Mississippi River in New Orleans, Saturday, Nov. 14, 2026. STAFF PHOTO BY SOPHIA GERMER
The NTSB is a federal agency charged with investigating transportation-related accidents and producing reports on their causes. Rather than leading to criminal or civil charges, the reports are generally used to generate policy recommendations for agencies and private actors involved in major safety incidents.
“We’re going to look at the where, the when and the how,” DeLeeuw said.
The 16-agent team will be on the ground in New Orleans for a week, he said. Agents are scheduling interviews with personnel involved in the accident. They have visited the site of the sunken cruise ship and have taken the tanker’s voyage data recorder, which logs ship movements and other data.
DeLeeuw said investigators plan to visit and examine the Atlantic Asphalt tanker on Sunday. A federal judge issued a warrant ordering the U.S. Marshals Service to seize the vessel after the Port of New Orleans filed a lawsuit suing the ship’s owners for negligence in the hours after the crash.
Drew Ehlers, deputy director of marine safety, right, speaks during a press conference at the Port of New Orleans in New Orleans, Saturday, Nov. 14, 2026. STAFF PHOTO BY ENAN CHEDIAK
Though officials said nearly 200 people were on board the American Heritage when the crash occurred, no one was killed. Eight people remained hospitalized on Saturday, however.
A U.S. Coast Guard official on Friday said the crash appeared to have stemmed from an unspecified steering issue.
DeLeeuw declined to speculate on the cause of the accident on Saturday. He also declined to comment on a series of reports by Coast Guard inspectors noting deficiencies in the ship’s mechanics, wiring and other issues in recent years. He said further details will be released as the inquiry unfolds.
“We’re at the early stages of this investigation,” he said.
Staff writer Willie Swett contributed to this report.
Source: www.nola.com
