DIAMONDBELLE

General information

Course/Position

Latest news

Engine failure after smoke development

Coast Guard personnel on May 29, 2011, was called in the evening to the "Diamond Bella" which had suffered an engine shutdown while underway in the Detroit River with 143 passengers and six crewmembers aboard. A marine investigator and a marine inspector from Coast Guard Sector Detroit headed to the private dock in East China, Michigan, where the "Diamond Belle" had been able to moor after the engine casualty. Sector Detroit was notified at 1:25 p.m. by Canadian coast guard personnel at Vessel Traffic Service Sarnia, Ontario. Initial reports were that smoke was seen in the engine room, followed by a shutdown of the vessel's main diesel engine. With no means of propulsion, the master was able to use the vessel's momentum to guide it to a private dock, drop the vessel's anchor and swing it in to moor there. The Coast Guard was working closely with the vessel owner, Diamond Jack's River Tours, to investigate the matter. There were no reports of injuries. The waterway remained open to marine traffic.