Boaters stranded on Lake Superior rescued in northern Ontario

Three people were rescued Sunday in northern Ontario after a boat ran aground on Lake Superior during thick fog and high winds, police say.

"Police received an SOS message from one of the boater's iPhones that they had come aground at an unknown location off the coast of Rossport," Ontario Provincial Police said in a news release Monday.

Officers from the Nipigon and Schreiber detachments were dispatched to the marine call off Simpson Island near Nipigon Bay around 10 a.m. July 28.

The Schreiber fire department and Superior North paramedics met them at the Rossport marina where the OPP Sea Swirl was deployed.

Three people rescued off Simpson Island in Lake Superior after boat ran aground July 28, 2024

"With assistance of the Canadian Coast Guard and the Joint Rescue Command Centre, the stranded boaters were successfully located on the South Side of Simpson Island," OPP said.

"The boaters were returned to shore in the Nipigon OPP Marine Vessel and the Canadian Coast Guard Vessel with only minor injuries. They did not require medical attention."

Three people rescued off Simpson Island in Lake Superior after boat ran aground July 28, 2024

The trio was returned to shore about 4 p.m., OPP Const. Matthew Foster told CTVNewsNorthernOntario.ca in an email.

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Three people rescued off Simpson Island in Lake Superior after boat ran aground July 28, 2024

Following drowning prevention week last week, OPP Const. Phil Young urges people to be prepared on the water.

"I always say, 'we never plan to fail, but we fail to plan,'" Young said.

"And nobody expects to go out on the water and on your way to camp with a loaded boat and all of a sudden, something terrible happens, right? You hit a shoal or a rock."

Conditions can change quickly, so it is important to have life-saving devices such as life jackets or personal flotation devices readily accessible.

"The ones you wear around the neck that are auto-inflate or self-inflate, and they, the stipulation there is that they have to be on, they have to be worn," Young said.

"The old foam style life jacket … can be readily accessible on the vessel and when I say readily accessible, that does not mean in your pontoon boat, at the very front of the boat, hidden underneath all of your camp gear and underneath a seat. That is going to be very difficult to access or to retrieve and put on if an emergency does arise."