Fishing Boat Survives Near Hit By Freighter on Detroit River

Compare a fishing boat with a dead motor stuck in the channel used by the Great Lakes freighter like having your car die on railroad tracks. The train can't stop on a dime in the same way a big boat can not either.

That's the situation a group fishing in the Detroit River found themselves in recently.

The video show two men and a woman out fishing on the Detroit river. A freighter blows a series of 6 short blasts on its whistle, a warning signal.

The engine on the smaller craft failed to start and it took deploying the smaller trawler motor to steer the boat out of the way of the much larger craft.

A few members of the laker's crew took to social media to give a little insight on the near-miss

This comment appeared on the YouTube video:

I was actually onboard that day, I'm an engineer onboard. We were moving over to the fuel dock after unloading at Zug. It's always a crowded move. Glad you were able to make it out of the way of the ol' Clyde.

From Facebook:

Was on board when this occurred, we were blasting the horn, interesting perspective from the other side. I have always questioned why there are not designated areas on the river where people can sit to fish with how much traffic from freighters there is

And that comments gets to the heart of the little bit of controversy surrounding the video - about how to share a body of water like the Detroit river between people who want to fish and the business of commerce.

Note: This video contains NSFW language.

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