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Isle Royale Queen IV runs aground

COPPER HARBOR – The Isle Royale Queen IV, operating out of Copper Harbor, ran aground Tuesday while on an evening cruise. U.S. Coast Guard was contacted by the Negaunee dispatch and told that the excursion vessel had run aground inside the harbor.

Lt. J.G. Derek Puzzouli of the Sault Ste. Marie Coast Guard station said in response to the call, Guardsmen from Coast Guard Station Portage in Dollar Bay were dispatched to the scene.

“By the time they (the crew from Portage) reached the scene,” Puzzuoli said, “the passengers had already been gotten off the Queen by Good Samaritans in the area with boats.”

The vessel had run aground on rocks near Porter’s Island, on the north side of the harbor, but its crew was able to get the vessel free without assistance, Puzzuoli said.

The Coast Guard trailered a small boat at the Portage station in Dollar Bay, and launched it from the Copper Harbor marina, Puzzouoli said, but by the time they got to the scene, everything was under control.

There were no injuries, the Isle Royale Queen suffered no apparent damage in the incident and there was no fuel or oil leakage as a result of the mishap, said Puzzuoli, but the Coast Guard remained on the scene to monitor the situation.

The incident is under investigation by the U.S. Coast Guard Marine Service Unit out of Duluth, which investigates marine accidents. The Isle Royale Line Ferry Service, which operates the Isle Royale Queen, was unavailable for comment this morning. No other details are available at this time.

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