Plans are underway to safely remove a freighter loaded with iron ore pellets that ran aground Friday in far eastern Lake Superior.

U.S. Coast Guard crews spent Friday night conducting hourly exterior draft readings of the 858-foot Roger Blough, while the Blough’s crew conducted interior soundings to the tanks every hour. The flooding the freighter was experiencing Friday appears to be under control, the Coast Guard announced Saturday morning.

The Blough, which left Duluth earlier this week with its load of pellets, ran aground near the Gros Cap Reefs in Whitefish Bay, about 10 miles west of Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., shortly after 1 p.m. Eastern time. The crew remained on board Friday night, but was safe, and the Coast Guard and the ship’s owners - Canadian National Railway’s Duluth-based Great Lakes Fleet - were assessing the situation to determine a course of action on Friday evening.

Coast Guard pollutions responders, inspectors and investigators are continuing to monitor the damage. The Coast Guard announced Saturday that its cutter Mobile Bay, a 140-foot icebreaking tug based out of Sturgeon Bay, Wis., is expected to arrive on the scene at 6 p.m. Saturday to assist in the ongoing response. A Dolphin helicopter from the Coast Guard’s Air Station Traverse City in Michigan was launched to provide aerial photos, but was diverted due to dense fog.

The cause of the grounding remains under investigation on Saturday, according to the Coast Guard. However, authorities said Friday that it apparently happened while the Blough was passing a ship that was stopped.

Authorities said Friday evening the flooding was occurring in ballast water tanks and that no pollution was occurring with the flooding.

The Blough is the second freighter to encounter problems on eastern Lake Superior this week. The 730-foot Tim S. Dool, another freighter familiar to the Twin Ports, lost power and went adrift early Thursday northwest of Whitefish Point, the website SooToday.com reported.

The crew was able to get some generators working to restore lights, the website reported, but had to be towed back to Sault Ste. Marie. It remained at dock there Saturday morning, according to marine tracking websites. The Dool was bound for Duluth.