Grounded Freighter Freed, But Detroit River Channel Still Closed

GROSSE ILE, MI — A Great Lakes Freighter that had grounded Wednesday morning on a shallow part of a Detroit River shipping channel has been freed, but the channel itself remains closed, according to a website that tracks Great Lakes and shipping news.

The Harvest Spirit was refloated late Thursday, nearly two days after it became grounded on a shallow portion of the Livingstone Channel in the eastern part of the Detroit River, near Grosse Ile.

The freighter was escorted down the channel and anchored off the East outer Channel in western Lake Erie for inspection, according to BoatNerd.com.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers survey vessel Wheeler was on scene to check the river bottom to ensure the channel was clear before it was open to traffic, according to the shipping news site. As of Friday morning, the channel remains closed.

The Harvest Spirit ran aground around 8 a.m. Wednesday after it lost propulsion after experiencing lube oil failure, causing it to drift until it was sideways in the channel, according to The Detroit Free Press.

Related: Great Lakes Freighter Reportedly Runs Aground Near Grosse Ile

The Livingston Channel typically is open to one-way traffic for vessel traveling down bound, according to the website. Dynamite was used to blast out bedrock and limestone to deepen the channel in the early 1900s, and the stone was removed and stacked into berms creating the edge for the channel.

All traffic was routed to the Amherstburg Channel, the website reported.

The Gardno, a saltwater ship, tried to pass the Harvest Spirit down bound Wednesday morning through the channel and reportedly touched the bottom, according to the shipping news site. It has since been anchored and reviewed for damage.

The tug boat Manitou, as well as two other tug boats, attempted unsuccessfully to pull the freighter from its current resting spot Wednesday afternoon, according to the shipping site.

The freighter was recently acquired by McKeil, a Canadian marine service company that provides transportation throughout the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway, East Coast and in the Canadian Arctic, The Detroit News reported. The freighter was built in 2012 and has an 18-member crew, according to the News.

The Harvest Spirit made its first visit to Detroit on Tuesday, where it loaded up on Zug Island, according to the shipping news site.

No pollutants were released due to the grounding, according to the Free Press, which reported that the Harvest Spirit is carrying about 74,000 gallons of diesel.

Related: Grounded Great Lakes Freighter Remains In Detroit River Channel