Paul R. Tregurtha Aground in Duluth, Sept. 20, 2014

The Paul R. Tregurtha of The Interlake Steamship Company ran aground in the mud just off the shore of Bayfront Festival Park around 3:15 p.m. on Saturday, September 20, 2014. With a full load of coal (68,000+ tons!), it was on its way out of the harbor to the Aerial Lift Bridge when it failed to navigate the turn toward the bridge. The cause is under investigation.
The Great Lakes Towing Company tugboats Kentucky and Minnesota teamed up at the bow and stern to free the "thousand footer" from the mud just off shore. The Tregurtha was freed at 7:00 p.m. and proceeded to undergo an inspection.
At 1013.5 feet, the Paul R. Tregurtha is the longest ship to navigate the waters of Lake Superior and is a favorite of many boat watchers in the Duluth Harbor and the shipping canal. (unofficially known as the "Queen of the Lakes")
© Dawn M. LaPointe and Gary L. Fiedler. All rights reserved
Radiant Spirit Gallery
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[@Danim24]

It's like watching something from 1960, but in HD!

[@jamesbraun9842]

Danim24 if it was 1960 the boats would still be going through.

[@TWLML420]

She's my favorite vessel.

[@mmbmbmbmb]

Excellent footage of the mighty Paul R.! Had the joy of being at Duluth with my, now deceased, Tugboat-Captain-Sweetheart, while Paul R. Tregurtha was arriving. Even though I think the Lee A. is more "impressive" ... together they surely make a handsome "couple" ... ;o) Thank you for the great shots!

[@possum2big]

Great vid ! Thank you for posting. I couldn't help but think if they couldn't get it loose that this would make a great sequel to Mike Mulligan and The Steam Shovel.

[@VinzentDk]

Cute little tuggies 😄

[@kenolsen1845]

Very nice, thank you !

[@markrhuett]

This old tug still has the old Cleveland 12 278A engine....antique.

[@scdevon]

They are underpowered and almost useless when a ship like this gets into trouble. They are cool antiques, but they need a modern tug with 3X the HP for work like this.

[@2snowgirl520]

Great tugboat action! I love tugs. I bet somebody got reamed out.

[@bagwan98]

Dear Great Lakes Towing,1000 ft freighters have been around since the 70's, it might be time to get some higher horsepower tugs?

[@stoneyj1a1]

Great Lakes towing tugs, small but capable, my old man used to work for them

[@bearbon2]

What engine does the Kentucky have. Sounds like EMD or Fairbanks-Morse 2-stroke. Love the sound, especially when he notches it up to full.

[@markrhuett]

bearbon2 Cleveland 12 278A

[@daddyrabbit835]

The size of these boats cannot be shown through pictures or videos. I was just at the bow of the ole PRT last week with my little boat... it was dwarfed.

[@jannordlund4272]

These Tugs make it all happen with these great ships..

[@jimsonbrown9768]

The old lakers look much better with the forward wheelhouse and sharp bow.

[@stevevlietstra629]

The camera contrast from. Wow beautiful in Duluth to. Whoa that’s not good!

[@charlieandpattisplace]

Thanks for sharing..I've never been down there to watch the ships..Would be fun someday to do that.....

[@RadiantSpiritGallery]

Thanks for viewing, Charlie! It is very fun to see those thousand footers go under the Aerial Lift Bridge and through the narrow canal. We never tire of it. :)

[@charlieandpattisplace]

RadiantSpiritGallery Your welcome and very well done...Maybe someday we'll see it done....

[@blackhawks81H]

RadiantSpiritGallery It really is great seeing those ships isn't it? I've never made it to Duluth, but I lived in Sault Ste Marie for 8 years. The best was seeing one of the thousand footers coming in with the sunrise on a cold morning

[@Jim-hw1xr]

I didn't see it freed.

[@proscriptus]

We're going to need a smaller boat.

[@shadetree6981]

The lake level is up at less a good foot since 2014.

[@dianedugas9505]

Is he making progress at all?

[@marioblut5579]

crazy oldschool Ships

[@johnburns4017]

Has that tug got a wooden hull?

[@USAIRFORCE621]

The 1st mate said to the Captain "sir you suck at parallel parking!"

[@jamiesmith1881]

Was the tregurtha working its props

[@Bands1999]

Thanks for the video,Two Great Lakes tugs, tug Kentucky at her bow; tug Minnesota on the stern 10,000 a hour. Tug Kentucky pouring on the coal. Duluth, New tugs for old tugs,The Kentucky and the North Dakota will be replaced by the Arkansas and Indiana. The tug Kentucky and North Dakota will go in for maintenance and will go to New ports after service.

[@RadiantSpiritGallery]

Bands1999 Wow, the Tregurtha's parking spot was alot more expensive than the $5 I paid at the festival grounds! ~Dawn

[@heatherlontcoski3423]

Bands19pop

[@Romans--bo7br]

Bands 1999..... is the Kentucky powered by ABC or a Naturally Aspirated EMD? Sound like V12's either way and if EMD.. is it a 567 Series or early 645 Series from the mid 1960's (the 567 Series was 1st gen. EMC/EMD... after Winton)? What year was the Kentucky first launched? They both sound rather similar even though one is a 4 cycle (ABC) and the other (EMD) a 2 cycle.

[@terrencebradley5417]

There are two kinds of captains: them what has gone aground and them what is gonna go aground'

[@shadetree6981]

That soft mucky bottom around Lakehead boat basin will stick any vessel that goes too far out of the channel around the bend. Very shallow. Even the most seasoned captains will get hung up if they're skirting the edge of the channel. Not a good place for 1000 footers to pass other vessels.

[@bruceg.6282]

I would have been nice to have a bird's eye view.

[@jeanhutchinson6198]

So nobody has commented on the storm clouds in the background starting about 1:50 with the lowering wall cloud in the center?

[@MrGOLDENSHOT25]

Jean Hutchinson That's actually why I clicked on this particular video :p

[@collin27]

Its a shelf cloud with rising scud looking like a wall cloud not to mention its an extremely high based storm

[@echobase1648]

Did the ship get a new captain after this?

[@TheKira699]

Do they have stern anchors? would have come in handy in that scenario I've seen it done before to drop the hook before running aground and haul in and pull yourself free. Alternatively the tug can take the anchor out and drop it...try the same trick...or simply with the cable.

[@bigden725]

was in same spot on land in 2016 july 4th firework

[@sandysutherland2182]

Wait for the tide???

[@timmanor1864]

It's the great lakes they dont have a tide

[@kenolsen1845]

😄😄😄😄😄

[@oriolesfan129]

Today is 11/28/2020. Is Paul still stuck 😏?

[@2snowgirl520]

Anyone know the depth of the water there?

[@jarrettdodge9060]

The depth was around 18 feet deep. By looking at the vertical numbers on the bow she was drafting approximately 26 feet. So the Tregurtha was stuck in 8 feet of mud

[@bagwan98]

Less than 26'05" obviously.

[@christopherniceley8848]

Why is it so close to shore???

[@RadiantSpiritGallery]

They intended to go from the harbor, under the Aerial Lift Bridge, and out to Lake Superior, but didn't make the turn. I never heard what caused this costly mistake/malfunction.

[@johnburns4017]

Was this grounding the fault of the tugs? The tugs do not look powerful enough to control fully laden carriers like these.

[@richardgoldman8761]

John Burns Looks empty.

[@scdevon]

How about a little help from the ship's main engines maybe? What about the bow thrusters? It doesn't even seem like the ship itself is even offering any help except for a brief period where smoke is rolling out of the smoke stacks. Why aren't the ship's main engines in full astern the entire time?

[@hexoticace8667]

Lakers do not use tugs nor pilots in this port to guide them in.

[@isobelwilson3461]

Dooohhhh ohhh homeyyyyy lol

[@mrnrguy]

No Tides so you can't just wait for the water to rise.

[@RU-zm7wj]

We don't get to see it break free? Just an old tug fruitlessly pushing?

[@silverviking33]

is it only me, or is a huge u f o in the sky to the right of this boat?

[@jamesmcguire764]

this captain but a hole in the ship a few yrs ago tring to leave winter lay uo now this he has a masters license as well as a pilot license did he get fired?????? or was it mechanical.

[@gimpcornet]

James Mcguire Actually Captain Tim Dayton, who was involved in the incident where the ice put a hole in the ship retiired in July of 2014 so he was not involved in the grounding incident. BTW - I am sure that it was Management's call as to when to begin the season and to begin in spite of the worst winter in years where it had thicker ice than previous years. The Captain was told to take her out at that time and did what he was told to do. The ship was suppossed to have thick enough steel to be able to operate in ice.

[@Capt737AA]

+gimpcornet Lol... The same thing Capt Smith was told before taking the Titanic out on it's maiden voyage!!

[@michaelcanney7218]

James Mcguire. putz driving

[@michaelcanney7218]

How many points on his driving record for this genius move, same ship same thing on st marys river

[@mnsirens]

Lots of ships have ran Aground on they're way to the Aerial Bridge. Even the Mighty Edmund Fitzgerald is Guilty of It

[@michaelcanney7218]

Mikey. driver's a putz

[@jarrettdodge9060]

A number of reasons can cause a grounding. Misheard commands, mechanical failure, etc. I don't speculate anything on the crew unless the investigation shows it was human error.

[@dammikafernando7728]

😨

[@maxsungwd]

Don't you fresh water guys have any real tugboats?

[@dave3682]

Actually, yes, some of the largest tugs in the world are on the Great Lakes (like the 153-foot Presque Isle). For this particular incident, nothing better was operational in the area, so older tugs had to be used.

[@diecastexcept6096]

How 🤔🙄

[@jamiesmith1881]

Didn't turn in time

[@papabits5721]

There’s 50 or 60 ft of ship under water that you dont see.

[@macdaddybill]

The Tregurtha hull is 56' so I am guessing about half to 35' under

[@mattharper588]

At the beginning of the video it shows the water mark at 27'

[@alexhayward4194]

Congrats, captain, you have been demoted :P {No he really wasn't :P}

[@alexhayward4194]

Yea, Tugboat ain't doing well eh? Whats even the point of it if it takes 4 hours to push a boat :P?

[@alexhayward4194]

Alex Hayward Ok, ignore those comments. I was just tired and when im tired im not in thebest of moods

[@ernierichardson2526]

+Alex Hayward Everyone is blaming Captain Tim Dayton but he was retired in July of 2014 so he was NOT in command of PRT when it grounded in Duluth. Captain in command doesn't seem to be mentioned but it was NOT Tim Dayton

[@jarrettdodge9060]

New captain not used to a large vessel is my best guess. Tim was a great captain