Thursday, March 27, 2008

Ice continues to pose problems on Lake Erie

Ice on the eastern end of Lake Erie is continuing to give commercial shipping problems, and is an ongoing headache for both the U.S. and Canadian Coast Guards. Overnight, two ships, the CANADIAN ENTERPRISE, bound for Conneaut, Ohio to load coal, and the CEDARGLEN, bound for Ashtabula to unload titanium slag, became stuck in ice off of Erie. Both vessels remained there throughout the night, requiring the assistance of U.S. Coast Guard cutter NEAH BAY to get underway this morning.

Yesterday, the Rt. Hon. PAUL J. MARTIN became stuck off of Long Point and required assistance from NEAH BAY all the way to Ashtabula.

Although this year's ice cover on Lake Erie is worse than normal, the conditions are nothing in comparison to Lake Superior, where the Canadian Coast Guard Cutter SAMUEL RISLEY and U.S. cutters MACKINAW, BISCAYNE BAY, and KATMAI BAY, along with private tug companies, are struggling to keep the St. Mary's River and Soo Locks open to commercial traffic, and keep ships moving through windrows of ice reported to be up to six feet thick in places.

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