Tugs free grounded lake freighter
Written by Heather Ervin
American Courage lake freighter on the St. Clair River. (Credit: WXYZ-TV Detriot)
The American Courage, a 617-foot lake freighter that ran aground in the St. Clair River November 7 at 7:21 a.m. local, was successfully refloated around 7 p.m. with the help of towing vessels from Great Lakes Towing.
The American Courage was yesterday anchored north of Marine City, Mich., in the St. Clair River and was expected to dock at Marine City between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m. on November 8. There were no injuries to crew members or those that responded and no pollution was observed or reported.
The Coast Guard Aids to Navigation Team Detroit will verify the proper position of all aids to navigation affected and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will conduct an underwater survey to verify channel depth and to determine if there are any impacts from the grounding.
The lake freighter is one of 10 self-unloading bulkers operated by Grand River Navigation, a division of Rand Logistics. Combined with its Canadian sister company, Lower Lakes Towing Ltd., the operation has a combined fleet of 16 vessels.
