Tug ‘Dorothy Ann’’s propulsion unit retrieved from Lake Superior
April 30, 08 by TheFleetIf you're new here, you may want to subscribe to our RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
Source: The Mining Journal
MARQUETTE — Last week’s tug barge accident in Marquette’s Lower Harbor is still under investigation after the successful recovery of the boat’s propulsion unit Friday morning.
According to Lt. Caren Damon, public affairs officer for the Coast Guard’s Sault Ste. Marie Sector, the recovery of the propulsion unit that sheared off the tug Dorothy Ann after it struck a submerged rudder, occurred without any additional oil discharges.
Safety zone restrictions for deep-draft vessels for the harbor have been lifted, Damon said.
After a recovery delay on Thursday due to high winds, a marine crane lifted the 16-ton rudder out Thursday and retrieved the propulsion unit on Friday.
Damon said when the propulsion unit was found by divers, it was intact with no breaches. It holds about 300 gallons of petroleum. While one flange was damaged, that part was buried, so no oil leaked from it, she said.
The tug Dorothy Ann and its attached barge Pathfinder unloaded limestone at the Shiras Power Plant last Monday morning and was headed to the Upper Harbor ore dock to take on a cargo of iron ore bound for Detroit, according to its corporate owner, Interlake Steamship Company of Richfield, Ohio.
When departing the Shiras dock, the boat struck the rudder — an obstacle on the lake bottom that had previously been unreported — causing the port propulsion unit to shear off and leak about 30 gallons of gear oil.
Cleanup efforts lasted until last Wednesday, with workers from Marine Pollution Control and Mackinac Environmental Technology, of St. Ignace, mopping up the last spots of oil along the shoreline.
Brendan O’Connor, director of human resources and industrial relations for Interlake, said the Dorothy Ann went through a sea trial with the Coast Guard Thursday and left Marquette Thursday morning for Dearborn to deliver a load of iron ore.
