Cargo Ship Freed After Running Aground In Detroit River
A freighter that is longer than two football fields and loaded with 21 tons of salt was freed on Wednesday, several hours after it ran aground in the Detroit River close to an island along the border of the U.S. and Canada.
The vessel, the MV Mark W. Barker, reportedly ran aground not very far away from Belle Isle, an island between Windsor and Detroit in Canada, the Detroit sector of the U.S. Coast Guard mentioned. No serious injuries, pollution, or damages were reported right away.
Working with the US Coast Guard and with the aid of a tug, the vessel could back away from the bank and get underway, the ship owner mentioned at around 12:45 p.m., in a statement it emailed to the Detroit Free Press. The crew will continue assessing the vessel to determine the cause.
The United States Coast Guard Sector Detroit said a ship ran aground Wednesday morning in the Detroit River.
The river remained open to boat traffic on Wednesday morning and didn’t block boat traffic, the Coast Guard mentioned.
How did the ship get stuck?
The cause behind how it managed to run aground is being determined, Cameo Ulbricht, the Coast Guard Lt., informed the Detroit Free Press.
The MV Mark W. Barker is a 639-foot freighter. It is the first-ever large bulk carrier to be built on the Great Lakes and the first that was used on the Great Lakes ever since 1981.
The ship, titled after the firm’s current president, embarked on its first journey in 2022 (July), USA TODAY reported.
References: USA Today, CTV News, WXYZ Detroit