Will take days to clear final ice-bound vessels: coast guard

Armed with extra resources and a better forecast, the Canadian Coast Guard has been able to remove a couple of longliners off its lengthy list of vessels stuck in heavy ice off Newfoundland's northeast coast.

Weather conditions are improving on a massive field of ice, but not quickly enough for 41 sealing vessels that have been immobilized for more than a week. Two vessels were cleared overnight Monday.

"There's not as much pressure as there was," Capt. Brian Penney of the coast guard command centre in St. John's said Tuesday morning.

"Hopefully we'll be able to move those vessels out today."

The icebreaker Terry Fox, which normally patrols Maritime waters, was seconded to the ice-clearing effort that has been underway off Newfoundland's northeast coast since the seal hunt closed. Most of the quota was taken April 13.

The ice moved inas vessels were heading home, effectively stopping more than 100 longliners in their paths. Most of those vessels made no or little movement until late this weekend, when dozens were able to head home.

While the coast guard's fleet has been trying to keep ferry and shipping traffic clear, in addition to assisting with ice-bound longliners, the best hope is the westerly winds that have picked up strength and are expected to push ice pans further from shore.

Penney told CBC News that even the most optimal weather conditions, however, will still mean a wait for several dozen vessels.

"We're still looking at a couple of days, at least. That's minimum," Penney said.

Once the ice clears, the ordeal for some fishermen is expected to continue. Three vessels have been identified as needing towing, Penney said, and others— some of which were pushed high and clear on top of the ice— have sustained undetermined damages.

"We're hoping that each of our icebreakers will be able to escort or tow [longliners]," Penney said. However, citing the work of the vessel Ann Harvey off Fogo Island, "it's not been opening up to the extent we would have liked to have seen.…[It's] very slow progress."