Skip to main content

650-foot salt freighter runs aground off Detroit island's shore

The 650-foot Mark W. Baker freight ship ran aground off the shore of Belle Isle Park in the Detroit River after losing propulsion and becoming stuck in mud and sand.

A huge freighter hauling salt through the Great Lakes ran aground in the Detroit River on Wednesday, causing a spectacle off the shore of a popular island park.

WASHINGTON STATE FERRY RUNS AGROUND WITH NEARLY 600 ABOARD AFTER SUSPECTED GENERATOR FAILURE

Freighters regularly travel the waterway but they rarely come so close to land, so the sudden arrival of the Mark W. Barker, which is nearly 650 feet long, turned heads at Belle Isle, a state park in the river.

"I came down here and I looked and I was like, ‘whoa,'" Diane Reid told The Detroit News.

350-POUND BEAR REMOVED FROM NORTHERN MICHIGAN TREE AS DOZENS SPECTATE

The freighter lost propulsion because of an electronics malfunction and got stuck in mud and sand about 8 a.m., the U.S. Coast Guard said.

It was freed by a tugboat around noon "fairly easily" but will be anchored in the river for an inspection, said Lt. j.g. Adeeb Ahmad.

"There were no concerns for vessel traffic. No one was injured," Ahmad said. "For such an unfortunate event, it was the best-case scenario. It happened right next to our Coast Guard station on Belle Isle."

Data & News supplied by www.cloudquote.io
Stock quotes supplied by Barchart
Quotes delayed at least 20 minutes.
By accessing this page, you agree to the following
Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions.