Tug boat, barges stuck along lakefront
CHICAGO (WLS) -- A tug boat and two barges in Lake Michigan are stuck along the lakefront Monday night.
The four-person crew made it safely off the tugboat, which lost power. The problems possibly related to the high winds and waves we've been seeing all day. Those conditions made it impossible tonight to raise the boat, which at this hour is still grounded here along the lakefront.
Monday night, the tugboat named the Kimberly Selvick is providing a spectacle for lakefront joggers.
"It's crazy, actually," said jogger Jerrard Walker. "I hope it doesn't flip over. I don't know what to say. We don't normally see stuff like this."
The trouble began shortly before 5 Monday evening near 39th and the lakefront. The commercial tugboat was experiencing mechanical problems while tugging two barges in windy conditions from Montrose Harbor to the Calumet River shipyard.
"We know they lost power," said Dep. Dist. Chief Ron Dorneker. "There's severe waves out there today. The waves coming over the front of the boat may have caused the problem."
As the boat took on water, the four-man crew abandoned ship, boarding one of the barges it was tugging, the fire department responding to the boat's distress signal.
"The wind and waves are bad," Dorneker said. "It's pushing that boat into shore right now, so it was a good thing that we got out there as quickly as we did and removed the people."
The crew members were not hurt, the fire department bringing them to dry land as the tugboat continued to drift, eventually grounding itself in shallow water.
An aerial search by the fire department turned up no evidence of any fuel leak.
"It's probably the most exciting thing on the South Side right now," Walker said.
The two barges remain stranded in open water. The tugboat is owned by Calumet River Fleeting, a company based here in Chicago. A representative was here at the scene Monday night but declined to comment. The Coast Guard says it's working with the company to salvage the boat. That could happen Tuesday if the winds and waves are a bit calmer.
