St. Marys River remains closed as agencies work to move ship

Brendan Wiesner, Sault Ste. Marie News
·2 min read
The Coast Guard Cutter Katmai Bay is on scene assisting the American Mariner on the St. Marys River.
The Coast Guard Cutter Katmai Bay is on scene assisting the American Mariner on the St. Marys River.

SAULT STE. MARIE — The St. Marys River remains closed on Friday while the 714-foot bulk cargo ship American Mariner is anchored in Munuscong Lake following a collision.

The 50-mile section of the St. Marys River was closed at around 1 a.m. Thursday morning after the ship struck a junction buoy and light and was forced to anchor.

There are no reported injuries or deaths on or off-board the ship. It is still unknown what caused the collision. The ship is empty of cargo and initial reports say there is no pollution or leaks of anything from the ship.

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The American Mariner struck a Munuscong Lake junction buoy and light early Thursday morning and anchored in the lake, closing a section of the St. Marys River to traffic.
The American Mariner struck a Munuscong Lake junction buoy and light early Thursday morning and anchored in the lake, closing a section of the St. Marys River to traffic.

The river is closed for a stretch of water from Nine Mile Point to Point Aux Frenes on either side of Neebish Island.

Since the collision, the U.S. Coast Guard has been working on safely moving the ship without further damaging it, risking the safety of the crew or possible leaks.

The Coast Guard Cutter Katmai Bay and other ships are assisting the American Mariner.

"Our top priority is keeping the crew and our first responders safe, and then ensuring we're not putting the environment in any kind of jeopardy," said Coast Guard Northern Great Lakes Public Affairs Officer Joseph Snyder. "Fortunately, we haven't had any kind of pollution and we definitely want to keep it that way, so we're still working through the plan right now. The vessel will not move until we're satisfied we know exactly how to shift them out of the channel."

The Coast Guard is working with teams from local, state, tribal and international partners to investigate the scene. Coast Guard Station Cleveland Harbor is also assisting in the situation.

Officials have not released any timeline on when the river will be reopened. The Coast Guard Northern Great Lakes Sector will provide updates to the situation on social media.

— Contact Brendan Wiesner: BWiesner@Sooeveningnews.com

This article originally appeared on The Sault News: St. Marys River remains closed as agencies work to move ship