The Commander of the Sault Sainte Marie sector of the US Coast Guard has announced they have concluded all domestic ice breaking operations. With most of the ice in the western Great Lakes now melted, ice breaking in support of commercial navigation is no longer required. In the 95 days of the domestic ice breaking season, the 8 ice breaking assets combined to deliver 468 hours of ice breaking assistance to the benefit of 109 vessel transits, with 19 of those requiring direct ice breaking to ensure vessel safety. They established and maintained tracks in the ice-hampered waterways of Lake Superior, the Straits of Mackinac, Georgian Bay, the St. Marys River, and our very own Green Bay area. Thanks to this ice breaking, 2 million tons of dry bulk cargo, translating to roughly $77 million of cargo critical to power generation, industrial productivity and public safety, were aided in transport during the winter period of ice cover.
