According to a recent article published by the Canadian Press, the Canadian Coast Guard is sending in more icebreakers to help clear the frozen Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway in order to make way for freighters. There are already two icebreakers working on clearing the ice in the Great Lakes, and they are requesting two additional icebreakers and a hovercraft to arrive by early next week.
This past winter created some of the worst ice conditions in 20 years, with 91 percent of the Great Lakes covered in ice, according to scientists from the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
According to the article, the Canadian Shipbuilders Association said on March 18 that without the added icebreakers, shipments of Prairie grain and other goods from ports such as Thunder Bay, Ontario would be delayed.
Photo courtesy of the U.S. Coast Guard.
