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U.S. Coast Guard / Courtesy Coast Guard Cutter Alder
Breaking Ice: April 7, 2015
The waiting convoy.
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Boatnerd AIS
Vessel Traffic: April 8, 2015
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NASA
Lake Superior Ice: April 7, 2015
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NASA
Lake Superior Ice: April 7, 2015
Whitefish Bay.
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Courtesy Canadian Coast Guard
Breaking Ice: April 7, 2015
U.S. Coast Guard cutters Mackinaw (foreground) and Alder break ice on eastern Lake Superior.
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Courtesy Canadian Coast Guard
Breaking Ice: April 7, 2015
The Canadian Coast Guard cutter Samuel Risley breaking ice on April 7, 2015.
UPDATE, 4/9/15: The ships are moving this morning. See video at bottom.
Thick ice on eastern Lake Superior has brought vessel traffic to a standstill near Sault Ste. Marie. More than a dozen ships are mired in ice that one crew member estimated is 6 feet thick. On the other side of the Lake's remaining ice, three downbound vessels are awaiting escort north of the Keweenaw Peninsula.
Strong western winds drove more ice into already-frozen Whitefish Bay this week. BoatNerd.com reports that Coast Guard vessels, U.S. and Canadian, have been working on a stubborn "35-square-mile slug of ice" near Whitefish Point since the weekend.
About 58 percent of Lake Superior remains covered in ice.
The U.S. Coast Guard issued this update on Wednesday:
SAULT STE MARIE, Mich. – The U.S. Coast Guard and Canadian Coast Guard continue to break ice on eastern Lake Superior for vessels that are waiting to transit to and from the lower Great Lakes.
U.S. Coast Guard Cutters Mackinaw and Alder are teaming up with the Canadian Coast Guard Cutter Samuel Risley to create tracks that will enable vessels to continue transiting with cargo to and from various ports. A second Canadian Coast Guard Cutter, Pierre Radisson, is expected to arrive in the area this afternoon.
These ongoing operations are part of Spring Breakout phase of Operation Taconite.
Warm temperatures during the past several weeks led to considerable melting on Lake Superior, which was still more than 75 percent ice-covered two weeks ago. Meanwhile, heavy winds during the past several days have pushed much of this lake ice into the eastern part of Lake Superior, jamming up against the already-ice covered waters of Whitefish Bay. As a result, 18 vessels transiting the area are temporarily stopped and are now staged, waiting for the supporting ice breakers to create tracks through the ice jam so vessels can continue their voyage.
In addition to eastern Lake Superior, the U. S. Coast Guard has one ice breaker in the Straits of Mackinac, two ice breakers on the lower St. Mary’s River, and another in Georgian Bay to conduct vessel assistance and flushing operations. Flushing ice enables the waters of the Straits and rivers to carry chunks of ice out into the open lakes to further melt.
Sailor Keith Baker has been filing reports from aboard the Cason J. Callaway:
Aboard the Cason J. Callaway
The Kaye E. Barker and cutter Mackinaw were both victims of the ice, which punctured the Barker's forward hull and damaged one of the Mackinaw's azipod engines. In no immediate danger, the Barker will be inspected upon its return to Sault Ste. Marie.
The Mackinaw has continued to work alongside the Alder and Canada's Samuel Risley. Reinforcements arrived on Wednesday afternoon:
Pierre Radisson
And the ships were moving later in the day: