Freighter Lewis J. Kuber still docked in Bay City

The freighter Lewis J. Kuber remained docked in front of Wirt Stone Dock along the Saginaw River near Independence Bridge on Monday, May 19. The freighter has been unable to turn around due to swift river currents.

(Yfat Yossifor | The Bay City Times)

BAY CITY, MI — The Saginaw River's current has proven too strong for one freighter, trapping the ship at Wirt Stone Dock on Bay City's West Side for one week.

The Lewis J. Kuber and its tug Olive L. Moore have been docked at 400 Martin St., just south of the Independence Bridge, since Tuesday, May 13, according to Todd Shorkey, a Bay City man who logs the passages of commercial vessels for boatnerd.com.

Doug Wirt, owner of Wirt Stone Dock, said the freighter was scheduled to drop a partial shipment of cargo at his dock in Bay City before heading to Saginaw to drop the rest.

But, because of the rainy forecast and potential for rising waters and swift currents, Wirt allowed the crew to leave the entire shipment in Bay City, forgoing its scheduled visit to Saginaw.

"Mother nature was just a little quicker than they thought," Wirt said.

Wirt said the velocity of the river was too quick for the Ohio-based freighter to turn itself around and make its way back to Lake Huron.

As of Monday afternoon, May 19, the Saginaw River was flowing at 1.74 feet per second, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

According to the United States Geological Survey, the river was still flowing at 1.74 feet per second Monday afternoon, May 19.

"For small boats, it's no problem. It's just the size of that baby. It needs to have more power than the river," Wirt said.

Officials with the United States Coast Guard Saginaw River Station in Essexville declined to comment on the rarity of the situation, but did say that the river's water level is about a foot higher than usual.

Wirt said it isn't shocking for large ships to find themselves in this situation, but not common, either.

"It's something that happens once in a while, but not really often. Usually there's the potential for this kind of thing in the spring with the ice melting and rainy weather patterns," Wirt said. "Especially this year because of all the ice coverage on the Great Lakes – there's been trouble in almost every river system."

Wirt wouldn't speculate as to how long the ship will have to sit before it could safely perform the maneuver. But for now, he said, it's near impossible.

"It all depends on the velocity of the river," he said. "If it were up to them they would have been out of here already."