A tugboat sunk Sunday in Duncan Bay, an unknown amount of diesel leaked into bay
CHEBOYGAN, MI -- The Coast Guard is working to find out what caused a tugboat to sink in a Cheboygan Bay and leak diesel fuel.
The boat sunk in Duncan Bay, just outside of Cheboygan. The boat that sunk Sunday morning is tethered to a boat that is listing toward the water. When somebody noticed the ship had sunk, the Coast Guard was called, safety precautions were set in place immediately.
"Right now, our priority is of course containment of any further pollution, which as of today, we haven't seen any further pollution, a little residual from yesterday, some sheen on the water, but very light," said Lt. Matt Kor, of the Sector Sault Ste. Marie USCG.
From the shore, you can see one boat leaning toward the water and you can barely see the top of the tugboat, the "Jenny Lynn," that is submerged in the water. On the shore, the sheen is shining, the remnants of the diesel that leaked from the sunken boat.
"There was nobody monitoring the boats periodically like they should have been, and of course, you see what happened, one of them developed a leak," said Larry Shepard.
Larry Shepard is the Harbormaster of the Duncan Bay Boat Club, and said the boats were first anchored in the bay Tuesday of last week. Sunday morning, people living in the marina, and those who lived on the bay, woke up to the overpowering smell of diesel, looked out, and saw one of the boats had sunk.
"Very concerned, we live here, we see it every day, and quite honest with you, we're concerned about it from a perspective, a natural perspective, a health perspective," said Jerry Chezick.
A boom has been set to contain leaking fuel. The Coast Guard has hired contractors to devise a plan to remove pollutants from the vessel. The hope is the owner will step forward and take care of the ship, but because of the potential danger, they're not waiting for that.
"Right now, we are moving on regardless, our plans have not slowed down, we're not waiting for any approval from him, at this point, we're carrying on what needs to be done to protect the environment and the people here," said Kor.
"We have a state park south of us, we have residents on the bay, we have a marina here, with 260 slips in it, and everybody enjoys that water out there, and we don't want to see it for a dumping grounds for junk people don't want anymore," said Shepard.
The Harbormaster put booms in place from about 4 to 9 on Sunday. He said that captured about 75 percent of the diesel that was flowing into the harbor.
Crews have capped off the vessel's fuel vents to prevent further oil leakage.
The Coast Guard is working with contractors to remove fuel on the ship.
