A 32-foot pleasure craft which ran aground in Tecumseh on Saturday night is in dry dock stateside.
A marine salvage company started removing hazardous materials like boat fuel from the wreckage on Tuesday.
“By 9 (p.m.) we had the boat floating on the river,” said Darin Alderton, the owner of Towboat 519.
Alderton explained the hull was badly damaged and immediately started to sink.
His crew placed air-filled salvage bags under the boat and kept the vessel afloat.
They successfully towed the cruiser down river to Gibraltar, Michigan.
‘We worked until three in the morning,” Alderton said.
Eight people were on board when the boat hit the break-wall near Beach Grove Golf and Country Club around 1 a.m. Sunday.
Two people were taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Essex County OPP says the driver of the boat, a 51-year-old Detroit man faces two charges, including operating the vessel while impaired.
The salvage operation took a couple of days, due to the large hole in the hull.
