ISLE ROYALE, MI— A 689-foot bulk carrier made it to port late Saturday evening after taking on water in a remote section of Lake Superior.
The U.S. Coast Guard is describing it as a rare event in the Great Lakes.
Half the crew of the Canadian-flagged ship known as the Michipicoten were evacuated from the vessel shortly after water started flowing in.
No injuries have been reported.
Lieutenant Joseph Snyder is a public affairs officer with the Coast Guard. He says officials originally thought the ship hit a submerged object 35 miles off the coast of Isle Royale National Park, but Synder says that's no longer definitive.
“The assumption is that there was some kind of exterior damage, crack to the ship that was allowing lake water to enter."
Interior pumps poured lake water overboard to allow the ship to stay afloat and travel under its own power.
Officials from the Canadian Coast Guard are taking over the investigation to determine what caused the breach on the 72-year-old ship. It's currently docked in Thunder Bay, Ontario, just northwest of Isle Royale.