Sad Day on the Detroit River
Tim
Wescott Company, capsized in the middle of the Detroit River,
approximately in front of Historic Fort Wayne (about a mile downstream
of the Ambassador Bridge). It apparently might have happened at about
6:45AM.
Out of the 4 souls on board, two (Great Lakes Pilots) apparently swam
to the Canadian side & were recovered, however the two J.W. Wescott Co.
employees are still missing, and (after an extensive water/air/land
search) are presumed dead.
US Army Corps of Engineers survey vessel 'PAJ' used their sonar while
running a search pattern, and located a submerged target thought to be
the Wescott II, located in the middle of the Detroit River, located at
the old Rouge River Canal at around 10:30AM. A witness aboard a
freighter docked about 150 yards away on the Canadian side had
apparently observed the hull of the J.W. Wescott II as it slowly floated
upside-down, until it finally submerged. Weather conditions were quite
nasty early this morning along the river -- high winds, moderate chop,
light to moderate rain, and visibility of 1/2 to 1 mile.
By around 10:30AM, SAR assets on-scene were:
Both USCG 41' Utility Boats from Station Belle Isle, and Sta Belle
Isle's 21' Rigid Hulled Inflatable.
USCG HH-65J helo #6505, from CGAS Detroit (Selfridge).
Detroit Fire Dept Fireboat 'Curtis Randolph'
Canadian Coast Guard Mark-5 boat
LaSalle (Ontario) Fire Boat
US Border Patrol boat
US Army Corps of Engineers survey vessel PAJ
Detroit Police Dept Harbormaster Boats 1 & 3
Windsor Police Services 'Windsor Guardian' patrol boat.
The PAJ was able to anchor itself atop what it believed to be the
J.W. Wescott II -- the SONAR contact was sitting in about 31' of water,
with the top of the contact being 18' below the surface.
Weather conditions improved, and DPD's Underwater Recovery Team put
divers in the water at around 11AM. They reported 0 to 1' visibility in
the water, and that the SONAR contact was definitely a steel-hulled
boat, likely the Wescott II. It was resting on the bottom, upside-down,
bow pointing upriver.
Bill Hoey, President of Gaelic Tugboat Company, was able to provide
rescue resources with a brief description of the interior of the Wescott
II via radio, and further details were provided by a Gaelic Tugboat
employee who worked part-time for the J.W. Wescott firm. It was
mentioned that realistically, it was doubtful either of the J.W. Wescott
II crew would have been wearing personal floatation devices. A DPD
Underwater Recovery Team pair of divers then dropped down off the PAJ &
Harbormaster boat, and made entry into the Wescott II's pilot house.
Due to extremely poor visibility & some debris inside the inverted pilot
house, plus the engine hatch (engine is directly below the pilot house)
being open, the divers were mostly confident that there were no victims
left aboard.
Sadly, it's mostly an accident investigation & salvage case now.
USCG Group Detroit Marine Safety Office will be handling the
investigation (at least preliminarily), with salvage of the J.W. Wescott
II to take place as soon as possible, due to it being a hazard to
navigation.
That area of the Detroit River remains closed to commercial freighter
traffic & is only open to private vessel traffic on an individual basis,
per USCG.
I'd been lucky enough to be able to make several ventures out on the
J.W. Wescott II as it's made deliveries (mail, packages, laundry,
newspapers, candy bars, Pilot transfers, etc.) in the past couple years,
including as recently as last month. Living about a mile upriver from
their office under the Ambassador Bridge, I also listen to the J.W.
Wescott II on VHF Marine channel 10 (156.500MHz) on a daily basis, and
have heard them exchanging Captain's salutes via their horns numerous
times each day from my home. They're a great bunch of people, some with
many years experience on the river. Not that I inspected it or am an
expert, but the Wescott II always seemed well-maintained. I remember
from my recent venture on it that numerous new-looking lifejackets were
readily available (stored on the interior roof of the pilothouse), and I
remember that the Great Lakes Pilots I'd been on the Wescott II with
always wore their own life vests (probably due to them having to climb
up/down rickety rope ladders) in all weather conditions.
The initial thought is that it struck a big wave & the bow went under,
and then it somehow rolled over. I don't know if the incident occurred
while the Wescott II was operating against a freighter.
The pilothouse is roughly 9'x12' and pretty open on the inside.
Towards the rear, there are a few steps leading down to a section that
contains some steering linkage, and a cabin heater. Part of the roof was
Plexiglas, so their captain could look up through the roof to see the
freighter while alongside, and each side had heavy steel sliding doors,
which because of the weather, would probably have been closed, except
for when they were alongside a freighter, when one would be open.
Everything seemed to pretty much be bolted down in place, however I can
imagine that mail bags, newspapers, and the engine hatches coming open
when the Wescott overturned would be potential hazards making a quick
evacuation even more difficult than it already would have been.
The J.W. Wescott Company has a very proud, 100+ year tradition on the
Detroit River, so this is really a sad day. I still have hope that the
crew is alive, and the current has taken them down to Grosse Ile or
something.
Relevant web pages:
http://detnews.com/2001/metro/0106/30/d01-241890.htm
http://www.detroit300.org/events/Sail%20Detroit/OtherVesj.htm#PAJ
http://hometown.aol.com/budatlitho/division10/belleil.htm
http://www.gaelictugboat.com/fleet.html
Tim
Detroit
--
Nightw...@home.com
Aacme
connect to the newsgroup feature so sometimes I get a whole months
worth of headers. But this story is (was?) from today.
I watched local news (Flint station) and not one word about this
story, can you believe that? Doesn't this seem like it would be
worthy of some news time?! Maybe I just missed it, however.
I am sorry to hear about this accident, and thank you for the
information.
Therese
jimh
wrote:
> This morning, the US Mail Boat J.W. Wescott II, operated by the J.W.
> Wescott Company, capsized in the middle of the Detroit River,
> approximately in front of Historic Fort Wayne (about a mile downstream
> of the Ambassador Bridge). It apparently might have happened at about
> 6:45AM.
Thanks for the very informative post.
Another link to information on the J. W. Westcott II mailboat
and views of the interior of the boat and of a normal service
of a passing ship:
http://continuouswave.com/boats/westcott/
Also, info from the company website of the ship they
were servicing:
http://www.knutsenoas.no/www/notis.asp?side=News
Television reports were confusing. Told the ship
"measured 11 gross tons" the TV reports converted
this to a weight measurement.
There was also repeated mention of the "Ojibway anchorage"
as though the Norwegian tanker were at anchor, but the
owners of the Norwegian ship cite the fact that she
was making way and turned around to look for the Westcott.
The J. W. Westcott II seemed to be a very stable boat, with
a low center of gravity. The topside superstructure was
very sparse. There was a large diesel engine mounted deep
in the hull. Exactly how she came to capsize remains unclear.
One report relayed to me--I did not hear it first hand--cited
statements from the two pilots who escaped that the Westcott
just turned over on her side and capsized very quickly.
--jimh
Karen M.
What I would like to know is...
...the Freep article on Weds mentioned that one of the surviving
pilots also saved a bicycle, "whose purpose was not known." Any more
details on that?
--Karen M.
who rode a ferry to Mackinac Island on Thurs AM (returning Fri PM) and
seriously considered the issue of lifejackets in the choppy Straits