30th Anniversary of Deadly Ship Collision Serves as Reminder

Yesterday marked the thirtieth anniversary of tragedy on the Mississippi. On October 20th, 1976, the Norwegian tanker SS Frosta collided catastrophically with the ferry George Prince in Louisiana, resulting in the loss of seventy-six lives. The anniversary comes on the heels of a collision on the Mississippi earlier this week, reminding us of the importance of vigilance on even the most routine voyages.

On the morning of October 20th the ferry took on a full load of twenty cars, eight trucks, six motorcycles, and an uncounted number of pedestrian passengers. She departed for the opposite landing and crossed the path of the tanker. At 120' long by 34' wide the ferry was dwarfed by the 664' by 90' Frosta. None of the George Prince's five crewmen acted as a lookout and the pilot failed to acknowledge the Frosta's attempts at communicating via radio, horn blasts, and danger signals.

The Frosta had few options for avoiding collision. The ship's bow sliced eight feet into the ferry's left side. Panicked passengers were thrown from the deck or trapped within the ferry and their vehicles, which dislodged and sank separately.

The George Prince capsized, rolled beneath the Frosta, and emerged on the ship's opposite side. The tanker immediately radioed for help. Nicholas Colombo, the Frosta's pilot, explained the situation to a nearby vessel simply but chillingly: "He went in front of me, and I ran him over."

There were eighteen survivors in total, fourteen of which were tossed into the water at the time of impact. Three survivors emerged after brief entrapment beneath the ferry. One managed to escape his sinking truck. The Coast Guard's search for further survivors was called off after only one hour. Ultimately, eighteen deceased passengers were found within the ferry. Fifty-seven were found in their vehicles, and one was discovered in the river months later.

A comprehensive investigation revealed that the ferry's pilot, who perished in the accident, possessed a blood alcohol level just beneath intoxication. A nearly emptied bottle of whiskey was found in the pilot house.

The foremost cause of the accident was determined to be the ferry's lack of a lookout and ignorance of traffic along the river. The George Prince's pilot was declared intoxicated. The Frosta's captain was considered negligent in failing to maintain a standard for communication in the event of collision. He was not notified of the situation until the danger signal sounded.

Although thirty years have passed since the disaster, the Mississippi river is far from free of peril. The river continues to demonstrate the need for caution and alertness whenever underway. On October 16th, 2006 a cargo ship collided with an anchored freighter. The 712' cargo ship Zagora tore a 12' wide by 6' long hole in the 737' freighter Torm Anholt. The hole's position above the waterline prevented sinking. There was no loss of life.

References and Further Reading

"MV George Prince Ferry Disaster." Wikipedia. .

"Ship, Vessel Crash on Mississippi River." ABC News. .

United States. Coast Guard. Marine Casualty Report. SS FROSTA (Norwegian), M/V GEORGE PRINCE; Collision in the Mississippi River on 20 October 1976 with Loss of Life. .