All rescued after tanker, cruise ship collision in New Orleans, US

In New Orleans in the US, at least 180 passengers and crew members made it to safety after an out-of-control tanker crashed into a docked river cruise boat midday Friday. The US Coast Guard has closed all river traffic in the vicinity of the accident.

Drone footage shows a paddleboat laying on its side, partially submerged near the Port of New Orleans, Louisiana.

The metal and glass crashed and crunched when a much larger Atlantic Asphalt tanker that apparently lost its steering hit the five-storey American Heritage cruise ship at 12:30pm local time, spurring a massive rescue operation.

As passengers disembarked, the cruise ship started to tilt and eventually "toppled over and flipped," local officials said. Luggage and other debris floated in the water.

Built in 2015, the ship operated by American Cruise Lines was carrying 129 passengers at the time of the mishap.

Over a dozen people in life vests were dragged from the 19-degree Celsius Mississippi River onto nearby vessels. Small boats, cutters and helicopters were immediately mobilised by the Coast Guard to assist in the operation.

In what is hailed as a "Mississippi miracle," the New Orleans mayor credited a swift response by local, state and federal personnel and onlookers from other boats for preventing any loss of life.

She said as many as 32 people from the stricken ship were in their local hospitals for treatment. None of them sustained any type of critical injuries.

Mayor Helena Moreno said, "I have to just completely thank our first responders. It was an all hands on deck approach...At this moment, the information that we have, we have zero people unaccounted for, which truly is a miracle on the Mississippi."

While survivors are being taken to a port of New Orleans building next door to the dock, Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry said the partnerships of all of the agencies that came to the rescue prepared them for this type of situation.

He said, "We haven't seen, um, a grounding of planes, uh, at that scale since 9-11, you know? And it is going to, it is gonna be, become challenging."

"It may take us a couple of days to get them back home...we're gonna make sure that they get whatever is necessary and then we try to move them to their homes as quickly as possible."

The cause of the tanker's steering failure remained under investigation.

In an emailed statement, the American Cruise Lines confirmed its boat was involved in the incident and said it was coordinating with the Coast Guard and local authorities. The company said, "Guests and crew were evacuated, and we are deeply concerned for everyone involved."