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Ships stranded in Lake Superior ice get help from icebreakers

Canadian and American crews are working to clear a path through ice on eastern Lake Superior that's left freighters unable to move, including one that had a hole punched in its hull.
The Associated Press ·
The Canadian Coast Guard Ship Samuel Risley is shown in this aerial photo near Whitefish Bay on Lake Superior northwest of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. on April 7. The icebreaker was participating in an effort to free eight freighters from heavy ice in eastern Lake Superior as the biggest ice cover on the Great Lakes in decades is backing up shipments of everything from Canadian grain to U.S. iron and steel in one of North America's most important economic regions. (Kenneth Armstrong/REUTERS)

Canadian and American crews are working to clear a path through ice on eastern Lake Superior that has left freighters unable to move, including one that had a hole punched in its hull.

The U.S. Coast Guard says a Canadian icebreaker is joining other American vessels breaking ice on Whitefish Bay.

Officials say at least 10 ships are affected.

Mark Gill, director of vessel traffic services for the U.S. Coast Guard at Sault Ste. Marie, told The Detroit News that warmer air and westerly winds loosened ice and pushed it around Whitefish Bay.

Some ships have been stranded since Sunday.

The cargo shipping season started last month on the upper Great Lakes.

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