Laker damaged in collision with cutter during ice escort

摘要

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is investigating a collision that punctured the hulls of a U.S. Coast Guard cutter and a bulk carrier during an ice escort on Lake Michigan. Hollyhock, a 225-foot buoy tender based in Port Huron, Mich., was breaking ice in front of the 990-foot Mesabi Miner at about 1045 on Jan. 5 when the collision occurred. The freighter was en route from Two Harbors, Minn., to Gary, Ind., with a load of iron ore. Petty Officer 2nd Class Levy Read, a spokesman for the Coast Guard's Ninth District in Cleveland, said Hollyhock had decreased its speed after reaching a section of thicker ice about 22 nm west of the Mackinac Bridge. Mesabi Miner was unable to slow down in time and its bow struck the stern of the cutter.