Efforts to free ship stuck in ice off Lake Erie shoreline paused for the night
BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — Efforts to free a lake freighter ship stuck in ice in the Lake Erie shoreline in the Buffalo River have paused for the night and will resume Friday morning, according to the Coast Guard.
The ship began to move Thursday afternoon. It first got stuck around 11:40 a.m. Wednesday and has been stuck since then surrounded by a foot of ice.
Ice breaking tug Bristol Bay will remain on the water near the ship overnight. Work will continue at 8 a.m. Friday morning to free it.
The vessel Manitoulin, which was returning to Michigan after completing a routine delivery of wheat, became immobilized by thick ice, which the U.S. Coast Guard said is commonplace this time of year amidst frigid temperatures.
“The situation that we are facing here on Lake Erie is that we have greater ice thickness than usual so local ice breakers and local Coast Guard vessels don’t have the capability to break ice with that level of thickness,” said U.S. Coast Guard Lt. j.g. Bridgette Baldwin.
Another ship left Detroi, M.I. just before 8 a.m. Thursday to assist. It has an estimated arrival time in Buffalo of 2 p.m. That ship will be tasked to break ice around Manitoulin to make an attempt at freeing it.
“It will be kind of rocking itself up and down, and kind of crushing the ice in that way,” said Baldwin. “So, when we think about traditional ice breaking, people think that ice breakers just plow through the ice. This one will be lifting itself up and down and kind of crushing the ice to pave the way.”
The Coast Guard said Thursday morning that there are no concerns regarding the safety of the crew. The ship still has enough fuel, provisions and electricity to stay in good condition.
Closer vessels, including vessels in Buffalo such as the Edward M. Cotter fireboat, don’t have the icebreaking capabilities that the vessel coming from Erie does.
All crew members on the ship are reported to be OK.
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Aidan Joly joined the News 4 staff in 2022. He is a graduate of Canisius College. You can see more of his work here.
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