The following is the text of a news release from the U.S. Coast Guard:
(PORTSMOUTH, Va.) — The Coast Guard is investigating a 590-foot freighter that ran aground Wednesday night in the Elizabeth River near Hospital Point in Portsmouth.
A pilot aboard the Hanze Goteborg, a Netherlands-flagged freighter carrying soy beans, contacted Coast Guard Sector Hampton Roads Command Center watchstanders at approximately 10:30 p.m. reporting the ship soft aground with no reported injuries, pollution or damage.
Sector watchstanders dispatched a crew aboard a 45-foot Response Boat – Medium, who arrived on scene at approximately 11:45 p.m. to assess damage and continue to monitor the situation. Though the waterway was partially obstructed, it remained open to vessel traffic with restrictions.
Around midnight, the Coast Guard requested the tugboats hold the ship in place and wait until 5 a.m. for a higher tide and a more complete assessment of damage.
The RB-M crew transferred three Coast Guard members from Sector Hampton Roads to the Hanze Goteborg around 2:45 a.m.
Three tugboats were able to free the Hanze Goteborg around 6:15 a.m. The freighter was escorted by the tugboats to Lambert's Point, where the freighter moored around 7 a.m.
The cause of the grounding is under investigation, and the Coast Guard requested any necessary repairs be completed and the ship's hull be inspected before the ship leaves port.
