Steering issue caused tanker to crash into cruise boat, U.S. officials say

Resumen detallado

The asphalt tanker vessel that struck a docked paddlewheel cruise boat in the Mississippi River at ‌New Orleans on Friday experienced a steering problem in which its rudder was…

The asphalt tanker vessel that struck a docked paddlewheel cruise boat in the Mississippi River at ‌New Orleans on Friday experienced a steering problem in which its rudder was stuck in one position, U.S. transportation safety officials ​said on Sunday.

The American Cruise Lines ​passenger vessel American Heritage, with 190 people aboard, capsized at the dock, but no ​one was killed in the collision.

The ⁠Atlantic Asphalt ⁠tanker was headed ‌upriver when it experienced a "steering casualty" in which its rudder stayed in a starboard position and the vessel veered toward the river's east ⁠bank, U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) senior marine accident investigator Bart Barnum told a news conference in New Orleans.

NTSB ‌officials said they do not know what caused the steering problem. The tanker's voyage data recorder was recovered on Saturday.

Issues under investigation include ​whether the tanker's anchors were deployed and, if so, at ⁠what depth, as well as interviews with crew members ⁠and passengers, officials said. Interviews with the crew ⁠of ⁠the Atlantic Asphalt ​are scheduled over the next week, they said.

Harbour personnel, ​firefighters and ⁠onlookers scrambled to pull passengers from the cruise vessel to safety after the collision. The cruise vessel toppled over into the river.

Inicio del artículo, extracto de CBC News. Para leer el resto, abra el artículo en el sitio del medio.