Helping Passengers & Crew Injured on Riverboats, River Cruises & Casino Boats
A trip on the river is part of visiting New Orleans. Excursion steamboats leave from the riverfront. Overnight river cruise ships begin and end their trips here, and the Port of New Orleans lists several cruise ship companies among the lines sailing the Mississippi. Casino boats operate nearby, including in Jefferson Parish.
If you were hurt on one of them, Frischhertz & Impastato can tell you what your rights are and how long you have to act.
Call (504) 276-6962 for a free consultation. There are no upfront fees to discuss your case, and there's no fee at all unless we win your case.
Passengers assume a boat tied to the dock is safe. However, on November 13, 2026, a tanker struck the river cruise ship American Heritage while it was docked at the Port of New Orleans and passengers were getting off, according to the Port's statement reported by WDSU.
It was not the first time something like that had happened. On December 14, 1996, a loaded freighter lost engine power and ran into the wharf beside the Riverwalk, stopping between a docked gaming vessel and a docked cruise ship. A summary of the federal investigation counts 4 serious injuries and 58 minor ones, every one of them suffered during the evacuation.
Two points follow from that. When a moving vessel hits a moored one, maritime law presumes the moving vessel was at fault, so people on the struck boat can have a claim against the ship that hit them. And a riverboat's own operator can be responsible for injuries during an evacuation if its crew was not trained or its plan did not work.
How Riverboat Passengers Get Hurt
Most injuries are less dramatic than a collision. Passengers fall on gangways and boarding ramps that move with the river, and on steep stairs and wet decks. Fires in a galley or engine room cause burns and smoke injuries. A hard landing or a grounding throws people off their feet. Someone who goes over a rail into the Mississippi's current is in immediate danger of drowning.
The operator owes every passenger reasonable care. That includes maintaining the boat, staffing it with a trained crew, navigating it safely, and being ready for an emergency.
Read Your Ticket Before the Deadline Passes
The general deadline for a maritime injury claim is three years. Your ticket may give you far less. Federal law allows the operator of a passenger vessel to set shorter deadlines in the ticket contract, with a floor: it cannot require notice of your claim in "less than 6 months" or require you to file suit in "less than one year." For certain smaller passenger vessels, both minimums are two years.
You do not have to live in Louisiana to bring a claim for an injury that happened here. Where the case is filed depends on your ticket and on the facts, and we can tell you once we have read the contract. Bring your ticket or booking confirmation, any report the crew gave you, and your medical records from the trip.
If You Work on a Riverboat
Deckhands, engineers, cooks, servers, housekeepers, and entertainers who work aboard can qualify as seamen. A seaman can sue an employer for negligence under the Jones Act, is owed maintenance and cure during recovery, and can bring an unseaworthiness claim when the vessel or its equipment was unsafe. Shore-based staff are more often covered by the Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act or by state workers' compensation.
Casino Boats: Which Law Applies?
It depends on whether the boat still counts as a vessel. A casino that is permanently moored and no longer sails may not be viewed as a vessel, and courts in Louisiana have ruled that way about some dockside casinos. In that situation an injured employee's claim usually falls under state workers' compensation, and a guest's claim is treated like any other injury on unsafe property. We look at how the particular boat is moored and used before telling you where you stand.
Talk to a New Orleans Riverboat Accident Lawyer
Riverboat cases can involve the boat's operator, the owner of another vessel, and several insurers. Our eight attorneys work on cases together and prepare each one for trial. We also handle cruise ship injury claims and tanker accident claims. Backed by decades of experience and our collaborative approach, our legal team can take on even the most complex of cases and win meaningful results for our clients. Don't wait to get a legal team working on your case. Find out how we may be able to help you.
There are no upfront costs, and we do not get paid unless we recover compensation for you. Call (504) 276-6962 for a free consultation.
A compilation of the Frischhertz & Impastato attorneys and staff at work and interacting with clients.
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