MV George Prince ferry disaster

[1] The Luling–Destrehan Ferry George Prince was struck by the Norwegian tanker SS Frosta, which was traveling upriver.

[3][4] It is also the deadliest peacetime nautical disaster involving a non-submersible vessel in U.S. waters since the explosion of the SS Grandcamp in 1947, which killed 581 people.

[5] In addition, it is the deadliest accident involving a single vessel in U.S waters since a fire on board the SS Morro Castle in 1934, which killed 137 people.

The George Prince was the larger of the two, and operated around the clock, while the smaller boat only worked at peak hours.

The ferry landings are pontoons connected to a shell road by a small ramp, and are held in place by pilings in the river bottom.

The SS Frosta was a tanker ship, built in 1961 in Germany and owned by A/S Ludwig, of Bergen, Norway.

She was facing upriver and took on a full load of vehicles, consisting of 20 cars, eight trucks, six motorcycles, and an unknown number of pedestrians.

Once loaded, the George Prince departed and made a short run upriver before turning to cross the river.

When the ferry had nearly finished its voyage across the river, she was struck near the middle of the port side by the bow of the Frosta.

Following the investigation by the Coast Guard, an administrative law judge suspended the ferry operator’s license for three months.

While the two-blast signal had no standing or meaning according to the "Western River Rules of the Road", it was commonly understood at the time for the ferry to give way and allow the ship to pass.

At the time of the horn signal, the ferry had already turned to port, beginning to cross the river, and was less than a quarter-mile away.

The pilot also feared striking a bridge pier construction site just upriver, or running aground or into one of the ships docked at the grain elevator.

The ship maneuvered through the construction area and anchored midstream over a mile upriver, carried most of this way by forward momentum.

[7] Passengers who were able to see downstream became aware of the rapidly closing motions of the vessels, and rightly concluded that the collision was imminent.

As they were preparing to offload vehicles, an engineer burst through the door, saying a passenger saw a ship run over the ferry.

As the ferries touched, passengers bridged the gap with benches from the waiting room, and sixteen survivors, perched on the overturned hull, came across to safety.

As the Ollie K. Wilds was crossing the river, a deck hand and the deputy had launched the small rescue boat.

The crew cast off from the ship and proceeded slowly across the river toward the overturned ferry, with the survivors standing on the hull.

The Coast Guard, immediately notified of the collision from the frantic radio calls, dispatched helicopters to the scene.

Having heard news media reports of the tragedy, a professional dive team drove themselves to the site and offered assistance.

That afternoon, a crane barge arrived on scene, and prepared to right and raise the ferry, which by now rested on the river bottom near the West Bank, with the hull barely protruding from the water.

At 10:00 p.m., the ferry was raised enough to permit dewatering operations, and the river reopened to limited marine traffic.

Conditions there were recorded as a "clear, crisp, pre-dawn darkness, without fog, haze, or other local environmental impairment to visibility."

Once it was raised, Coast Guard officials from the Marine Investigation Office boarded the ferry and examined the pilot house.

Minyard's report stated that the pilot, Egidio Auletta, had been drinking and was experiencing a large degree of impairment at the time of his death at the helm.

[11] At the dedication of the bridge, both Governor David C. Treen and Bishop Stanley Ott remembered those killed in the accident.

[12] The film was released on the 30th anniversary of the disaster and sparked a movement to bring a memorial for the victims and survivors to St. Charles Parish, Louisiana.

Anderson raised the issue again to the newly elected parish president and officials, bringing a score of relatives of the victims to a council meeting on January 28, 2009.

The memorial was unveiled in a solemn ceremony at the East Bank Bridge Park in Destrehan on October 17, 2009, with over 300 people in attendance.