Cargo ship hauling table salt gets stuck in Delaware River in Philadelphia, Coast Guard says
A cargo ship carrying table salt is being dislodged Thursday after it got stuck in the Delaware River in Philadelphia, the U.S. Coast Guard said.
The ship was heading north up the river when it got stuck about a mile past the Benjamin Franklin Bridge. The first reports of the ship's grounding came in around 6:30 p.m. Wednesday. No injuries have been reported.
A Coast Guard spokesperson identified the ship as the Algoma Verity, which is sailing under the flag of the Bahamas. Records on Marinetraffic.com say the ship is a roughly 190-meter long, 32-meter wide bulk carrier, and it was headed to Fairless Hills, Pennsylvania.
An info sheet from Algoma Central Corporation said the Verity can hold 47,404 metric tons of cargo in its over 2.1 million cubic feet of storage space. It was carrying about 45,000 tons of solar salt at the time it ran aground, the Coast Guard said.
The vessel will be evaluated for damage. It wasn't immediately clear what caused the ship to become stuck.
Boat traffic is currently restricted between the Ben Franklin Bridge and the Tioga Marine Terminal. Vessels that need to pass by the area are required to contact the Coast Guard Command Center one hour before their travel.
The National Weather Service released a statement Thursday morning warning of a strong northwest wind that could reduce water levels on the river, with levels as much as 2-3 feet lower at low tide. The low water level may cause navigation provlems, NWS said.
Tide and current trackers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration showed multiple tidal stations in Philadelphia along the Delaware River were in "low water condition," meaning low tides were measured to be lower than normal.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
