Laker’s grounding still under review

The U.S. Coast Guard continues to investigate the Sept. 20 grounding of a freighter in the Duluth harbor offshore from Bayfront Festival Park.
The Paul R. Tregurtha was outbound and loaded with 68,000 tons of coal when it failed to negotiate a sharp turn on its approach to the Aerial Lift Bridge and ran aground, drawing the attention of spectators who had converged on the park for Duluth’s annual balloon festival.
Lt. Jud Coleman of the U.S. Coast Guard Marine Safety Unit in Duluth said that once the local investigation is concluded, it will go to various levels of review within the Coast Guard hierarchy. It’s unlikely to be final anytime soon, with Coleman estimating three months at the earliest.
“Our local investigation is still ongoing and we’ll bump it up from there,” Coleman said. “We’ve got some indications, but we aren’t comfortable sharing those. They have to be reviewed.”
The Tregurtha was able to extricate itself under its own power with help from a couple of tugboats about 3½ hours after running aground. It left Duluth early the next morning.