Grounded Container Ship Freed

A container ship that ran aground in Melbourne's Port Phillip Bay this morning has been refloated and is heading back to port. The Francoise Gilot came to grief about 5.50am (AEST) today when it lost power and drifted out of the shipping channel and on to sand in the south of the bay.The Francoise Gilot after it ran aground.Two tug boats were sent to assist the stricken 160m vessel but it managed, under its own power, to pull free of the sand at Hovell Pile, near McCrae. "She's free and she's making her way up to the north of the bay on her own steam," Port of Melbourne Corporation (PoMC) spokesman Peter Harry said.