Ice Slows Freight Shipping On The Great Lakes
Posted in Auto Transport News on January 18th, 2010 by admin – Be the first to commentLooks like the Auto Shipping industry aren’t the only ones feeling frost bite. In this article by Port Huron, Michigan’s The Times Herald, they show how the St. Clair River is iced over and has impacted shipping.
Shipping traffic came to a standstill Sunday and Monday as Coast Guard officials worked to battle an ice jam in the St. Clair River.
Four Coast Guard cutters traveled to the area to free vessels stuck in the ice.
“Freighter” Frank Frisk, a maritime consultant at the Great Lakes Maritime Center in Port Huron, said 16 to 18 ships were delayed Sunday night because of the ice.
He said brash ice — which occurs when ice layers on top of itself — was to blame for jamming the river.
“It’s a mess down there,” Frisk said late Monday afternoon.
Vessels were stopped from Lake St. Clair to Lake Huron, he said. Cutters Penobscot Bay, Neah Bay, Bristol Bay — all 140 feet in length — and the 225-foot Hollyhock worked throughout the day to get the river flowing.
After 6 p.m., the Coast Guard cutters called it a night. The Bristol Bay headed back to Detroit for the night, while the Neah Bay and Penobscot Bay tied up in Algonac, Frisk said.
