Freighter freed from ice on frozen Lake Erie
A Canadian freighter is finally on the move after being freed from ice on frozen Lake Erie.
After several days, a U.S. Coast Guard cutter traveled from Pennsylvania to New York to break the ice surrounding a Canadian freighter stuck in Lake Erie this weekend.
A Canadian freighter is finally on the move after being freed from ice on frozen Lake Erie. The 663-foot Manitoulin, with a crew of 17 people on board, initially left Buffalo Wednesday morning after dropping off a load of wheat, and was heading to Sarnia, Ontario, when it became stuck in ice that was quickly forming on Lake Erie amid sub-zero temperatures offshore Buffalo.
A U.S. Coast Guard icebreaking ship had been working since Thursday to help the Manitoulin along with the Canadian Coast Guard.
The freighter was freed Saturday and escorted by three ice icebreakers through more than 20 miles of ice across Lake Erie until it got to free water Saturday night, according to Lt. Kyle Rivera of the Coast Guard. The ship wasn't damaged and the crew is safe.
By Monday morning the freighter had traveled south, passing Cleveland and was headed up the Detroit and St. Clair rivers to Sarnia, Ontario, where it will spend the rest of the winter, Rivera told The Associated Press on Sunday.
"There is ice through other portions of the lake and the rivers, but we have another cutter that will take it through there," he said.
Report a Typo
