SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. — A ship that took on water in Lake Superior likely had a stress fracture in its hull, the U.S. Coast Guard said Tuesday, in an initial report that the freighter had hit something under the surface last weekend.
“That would have been very strange,” said Lt. Joe Snyder at the Coast Guard post in Sault Ste. Marie in northern Michigan. “They were in open water.”
The Michipicoten, a ship 210 meters long, was carrying taconite, an iron ore, and had 22 people on board on Saturday. Half the crew was evacuated for safety reasons while the ship was able to reach a port in Thunder Bay, Ontario.
The ship was in the northwestern part of Lake Superior, the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface area.
“The initial report to the Coast Guard was that the crew heard a loud bang and began taking on water near the bow,” Snyder said. “The evidence they’ve seen so far seems to point to some sort of stress fracture or structural failure.”
The investigation was still ongoing, he said.
The ship lost no cargo and discharged no pollutants into the lake, Snyder said.
