UNDATED (WSAU) The S-S Badger Car Ferry ran aground near Manitowoc yesterday. It almost finished its first trip of the season across Lake Michigan when it got stuck on a shoal for several hours about 450-feet from the dock at Manitowoc. That was after the Badger left its home port at Ludington, Michigan yesterday morning.

Senior chief engineer Charles Cart said the boat ran into sediment that often builds up in Great Lakes harbors during the winter. And a problem with a piston reduced the boat’s engine power, and hampered efforts to free it from the shoal. A tugboat finally freed the Badger, allowing passengers and their vehicles to leave.

Crew members were expected to replace the piston and make some other repairs last evening.