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Freighter aground south of Detroit

Aerial view of the Detroit River
Wikimedia Commons

A freighter carrying coal to a power plant has run aground in the Detroit River.

Patricia Baca is with search and rescue at the U.S. Coast Guard in Detroit. She says the channel the vessel was trying to navigate is a difficult one:

"It is, because it’s not navigated very often by the commercial mariners. They only go in there maybe, like, four times a year. And this happens to be one of the four times a year."

Baca says four tug boats are trying to free the McKee Sons freighter – which got stuck early this morning near Grosse Ile. A Coast Guard investigation is under way.

Sarah Hulett is Michigan Public's Director of Amplify & Longform, helping reporters to do their best work.