Ship crushes small boat, hits Main Street Bridge in Green Bay

(WFRV) - Green Bay police report that the Main St. Bridge is reopened after being struck by a bulk carrier.

The bridge was closed after being struck by the bulk carrier, Kaye E. Barker, a vessel owned by the Interlake Steamship Company.

The vessel, built in 1952, also crushed a small boat prior to hitting the bridge.

Kaye E. Barker was built by the American Shipbuilding Company in Toledo.

It was originally named Edward B Greene and was the flagship of the Cleveland-Cliffs Steamship Company fleet.

The ship was lengthened with the addition of a 120-foot midbody section at Fraser Shipyards Inc, Superior Wisconsin, in 1976.

Then in 1981, American Ship Building Company of Toledo converted her into a self-unloader. 

The vessel joined the Rouge Steel Company fleet and was renamed Benson Ford in 1985.

After joining the Interlake Steamship Company in 1989, she became Kaye E. Barker, honoring the wife of Interlake's Chairman of the Board and President.

In 2012, the Kaye E. Barker was repowered at Bay Shipbuilding in Sturgeon Bay, WI.