MV George Prince ferry disaster

1976 Mississippi River ship collision

The MV George Prince ferry disaster was a nautical disaster that occurred in the Mississippi River in St. Charles Parish, Louisiana, United States, on the morning of 1976 10 20. The Luling–Destrehan Ferry George Prince was struck by the Norwegian tanker , which was traveling upriver. The collision occurred at mile post 120.8 above Head of Passes, less than three quarters of a mile from the construction site of the Luling Bridge which would replace the ferry seven years later. The ferry was crossing from Destrehan, Louisiana on the East Bank to Luling, Louisiana on the West Bank. Ninety six passengers and crew were aboard the ferry when it was struck, and seventy eight perished. This accident is the deadliest ferry disaster in United States history. 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. In addition, it is the deadliest accident involving a single vessel in U. S waters since a fire on board the in 1934, which killed 137 people.

The Luling–Destrehan Ferry was one of three routes then operated by the Louisiana Department of Highways, District 2. The others were the pedestrian Taft–Norco Ferry and the vehicle Edgard–Reserve Ferry. The ferry operated with two boats, the Ollie K. Wilds and the George Prince. The George Prince was the larger of the two, and operated around the clock, while the smaller boat only worked at peak hours. During peak hours, the ferries did not operate on a fixed schedule. 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 ferries made a "figure 8" transit, always running upriver when departing, letting the current carry the boat downriver, then turning upriver to land on the opposite bank. The East Bank ferry landing was situated upriver of two busy grain elevators, limiting the boats' ability to maneuver and, when ships were present, obscuring the boats' radar. Visibility was often limited by clouds of grain dust from transfer operations, although no transfer was taking place the morning of the accident.

The George Prince was a ferry owned and operated by the Louisiana Department of Highways, originally built in 1937 at Slidell, LA, and converted for its final use at Avondale, LA. In 1969, the U. S. Coast Guard ceased inspection and certification of the vessel at the request of the state of Louisiana. It was a free ferry and was not carrying passengers "for hire", so the Coast Guard complied with the request. The George Prince was 120 feet (37 m) in length and 34 feet (10 m) in breadth, with a gross weight of 259 tons, and powered by a diesel engine. She was equipped with two radar units (although only one was turned on at the time of the accident). Her crew of five consisted of a pilot, an engineer, and three deckhands. The entire crew of the George Prince had duties while afloat; none of these duties were to serve as lookout. Her crew had been on duty all night and was due to get off duty at 7:00. 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. Of the passengers aboard, there is no accounting of people in vehicles versus pedestrians. About 20 people were crowded in a waiting room to avoid the pre dawn chill. Once loaded, the George Prince departed and made a short run upriver before turning to cross the river. She did not give any indication of her departure by radio or horn. When operating in tandem, the ferries operated by sight with each other. The George Prince proceeded across the river, never changing course nor acknowledging radio traffic. According to the survivors, some of the passengers were aware of the Frosta as it traveled upriver, and there was a growing anxiety over what appeared to be a collision course, although this anxiety was somewhat tempered by their belief that the ferry would maneuver to avoid the ship, especially since there was no indication of danger from the George Prince. When the Frosta sounded the danger signal, there was an immediate panic from those who could see the ship, and their flight from danger alerted others. It can never be known whether the passengers on the side opposite the oncoming ship were aware of the danger, as all the survivors were on the side of the impact. 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. The force of the collision drove the stem of the Frosta 8 feet (2 m) into the side, impaling the George Prince on the port side and pushing her sideways up the river. The starboard side of the George Prince was quickly submerged, and the vessel capsized almost immediately. After capsizing, the ferry was driven under the ship, where the bottoms of the vessels collided. All the vehicles were thrown off of the deck except for a motorcycle, which was entangled in the railing. One vehicle floated briefly before filling with water and sinking; the rest sank immediately. Less than two minutes had elapsed since departing the dock. The circumstances of a collision in 1974 resembled those of the 1976 tragedy except that, in the earlier accident, there were no fatalities. The accident occurred just before dawn in good visibility; the ferry operator failed to see the upbound vessels, though they were seen by the passengers on the deck; and the ferry operator failed to make good use of his radios to check for river traffic. Following the investigation by the Coast Guard, an administrative law judge suspended the ferry operator’s license for three months. That decision was affirmed by the Coast Guard Commandant and by the National Transportation Safety Board in a decision adopted six days after the 1976 tragedy.

With the East Bank ferry landing obstructed by ships, the Frosta could not see any activity at the landing until a quarter mile away. At the point of collision, though, the river is more than half a mile wide. Having spotted the Ollie K. Wilds crossing, the pilot was aware of the ferry operation. The pilot observed a ferry depart the East Bank landing, heading upriver. He called twice on his hand held transceiver, waiting ample time between transmissions for a reply, but receiving none. He blew the ship's horn twice, indicating his desire to pass in front of the ferry. 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 ferry did not respond, and the pilot again called on the radio, and repeated the two blast signal on the ship's horn. One of the radar sets was off, another was on. The radio was turned on, and tuned to channel 13, the same channel used by the river pilot. A plywood box was found in the pilot house, containing various logbooks and other documents, along with a half pint bottle of Seagrams V. O. whiskey, with about an inch of whiskey remaining. No fingerprints could be recovered from the bottle, despite the efforts of the FBI laboratory in Washington, DC. The body of the ferry pilot was autopsied by Orleans Parish coroner Dr. Frank Minyard. The blood alcohol level was determined to be 0.09%, just shy of the legal definition of alcohol intoxication (in 1976) of 0.10%. (The laws in Louisiana and every other state have changed since 1976; Auletta would have been defined as legally intoxicated under today's law in all 50 states.) No other drugs were present. 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. At the dedication of the bridge, both Governor David C. Treen and Bishop Stanley Ott remembered those killed in the accident. The asphalt ramps to the tops of the levees still exist, but have fallen into disrepair.

The disaster was all but officially forgotten until 2006, when historian and filmmaker Royd Anderson wrote and directed the documentary The Luling Ferry Disaster for his Master's thesis project in Communication at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. 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. Soon after the movie's release, on November 6, 2006, local government officials voted to have 2 memorials constructed, but the issue lost traction after those elected officials were not re elected the following year. 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. A memorial committee led by St. Charles Parish Councilman Larry Cochran was formed soon afterwards, composed of family members and friends of the deceased, St. Charles Parish Council members, and concerned citizens, including Anderson. The committee met for several months, voting on where the monument should be placed and what it should look like. St. Charles Parish Councilman Paul J. Hogan, an architect, created the design for the monument. Local suppliers, vendors, companies, and individuals donated the equipment, labor, and materials to build it. 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. A bell rang as each name was called; a white balloon rose in memory of each of the deceased, and a blue balloon rose in memory of each of the survivors. By the end, 95 balloons were drifting slowly over the Mississippi River near the spot where the accident occurred.

None of the crew of the SS Frosta were injured or killed in the accident.

U. S. Coast Guard Report