Photos: Michigan Princess damaged, closed until further notice

LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) — The Michigan Princess riverboat is out of service for August and September 2024 due to an ‘unexpected equipment malfunction’ while trying to return the boat to the Grand River.

The Michigan Princess Facebook post says the incident happened around 4 a.m. Friday, August 16, and a malfunctioned airbag is responsible for the extensive damage.

Matt Christie, a maintenance worker told 6 News the boat was out of the water due to a dry dock inspection, which happens about once every five to six years. After 20 hours of work, the Michigan Princess was almost back in the water when disaster struck.

The riverboat was about 80% into the water when one of the airbags got overpressurized—and blew.

“It was quite loud, sounded like a bomb went off inside the boat,” said Christie. “I was inside the boat and yeah, I kind of went flying right along with everything inside the boat.”

Christie says all the chandeliers broke—the originals from when the boat was built in 1991. He also says the team had to hurry to pull the boat out of the water to get it ‘blocked up’ and secure it to check the damage.

“They have to shut down for about a month or two, we were booked up every day, sometimes two a day,” said Christie.

Christie recalls the recent fuel spill that caused the boat to be out of the river

“We were filling our tanks up in the rainstorm, and the fuel guy overfilled it and with the water moving as fast as it was, it looked like we dumped more fuel than we did. We probably lost half a cup. The news said we lost 8 gallons, which is a huge difference,” said Christie.

“Because we overfilled the tanks in the rainstorm, the fuel went down river faster than usual. Because normally it evaporates before it gets to anybody. We never experienced a fuel leak like that but it wasn’t a leak it was a spill.”

“Repairs are expected to take at least one month to complete. We understand the inconvenience this may cause our guests and are working diligently to resolve the situation as quickly as possible,” the Facebook post reads.

Chris Chamberlain, the owner of the boat, said that a wedding next weekend had to be refunded.

“If you have tickets or an event scheduled on the Michigan Princess during this time, our team will be in touch during regular business hours to assist with rescheduling or refunds.”

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