.jpg)
MCP Boat Blog is a presentation of the Mason County Historical Society’s Port of Ludington Maritime Museum, ludingtonmaritimemuseum.org, located at 217 S. Lakeshore Dr., Ludington.
This article was updated on May 6.
By Rob Alway, Editor-in-Chief
LUDINGTON — Salvage crews recovered a sunken commercial fishing boat today in Pere Marquette Lake near Thompson Marina. Ludington Police Department reported the vessel Eagle, owned by Boo Bear Battice, had sunk on Feb. 11, 2025.
At the time of the sinking, personnel from U.S. Coast Guard Station Manistee were called to assist. They used a drone and confirmed that no hazardous materials (fuel/oil) were leaking from the sunken vessel, according to Ludington Police Chief Chris Jones. However, obvious signs of fuel and/or oil leakage were apparent during the salvage Monday.
“During the recovery operations, a leak of oil and/or fuel was observed coming from the vessel, which was beyond the capacity of the absorbent materials on hand,” Jones said adding that the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) and US Coast Guard were notified.
“The USCG Station Manistee provided oil containment boom, which was deployed to absorb and contain the leaked fluid. Environmental safety remains a top priority, and the deployment helped minimize the spread of the substance within the waterway.
“The source of the oil and fuel leak has since been removed from the water. However, the containment boom will remain in place for several days to ensure that any residual fluids are fully absorbed and do not pose a risk to the local ecosystem.”
Today’s efforts were coordinated by Ludington Police Department which contracted with Zupin Crane of Manistee to recover the boat. The Mason County Sheriff’s Office Dive Team also assisted. Jones said the City of Ludington will likely seek reimbursement from the owner on the salvage operation.
Photo contributed by Ludington Police Dept.
___________
Please Support Local News
Receive daily MCP and OCP news briefings along with email news alerts for $10 a month. Your contribution will help us to continue to provide you with free local news.
The easiest way is to sign up for an automatic monthly payment on Paypal. Click this link.
Alternative methods:
- We can send you an invoice for a yearly payment of $120, which you can conveniently pay online or by check. If you are interested in this method, please email editor@mediagroup31.com and we can sign you up. You can also mail a yearly check for $120 to Media Group 31, PO Box 21, Scottville, MI 49454 (please include your email address).
We appreciate all our readers regardless of whether they choose to continue to access our service for free or with a monthly financial support.
If you would like to support MCP/OCP but do not wish to receive daily emails, please consider sending a contribution to any of the above methods or pay by Venmo (@masoncountypress).
_____
This story and original photography are copyrighted © 2025, all rights reserved by Media Group 31, LLC, PO Box 21, Scottville, MI 49454. No portion of this story or images may be reproduced in any way, including print or broadcast, without expressed written consent.
As the services of Media Group 31, LLC are news services, the information posted within the sites are archivable for public record and historical posterity. For this reason it is the policy and practice of this company to not delete postings. It is the editor’s discretion to update or edit a story when/if new information becomes available. This may be done by editing the posted story or posting a new “follow-up” story. Media Group 31, LLC or any of its agents have the right to make any changes to this policy. Refer to Use Policy for more information.
Please consider helping to fund local news. Mason County Press and Oceana County Press are available for free thanks to the generous support of our advertisers and individuals. Three ways to help us: Venmo: @MasonCountyPress; Paypal: MasonCountyPress@gmail.com; Mail a check to PO BOX 21, Scottville, MI 49454.
.png)
