Strong winds and bitter cold temperatures plunged the Great Lakes into the worst ice season the area has experience in more than 20 years. Lakes Superior and Huron had 98 percent ice coverage. Lake Erie was completely ice covered. Lake Michigan’s southern end and its bays and harbors were ice covered.
“It has been 25 years since we had to provide icebreaking in the Chicago area”, said Cmdr. Joe McGuiness, Ninth Coast Guard District Aids to Navigation Assistant Branch Chief. “This has been a tough ice season. Environment Canada said they have not seen ice conditions like this year since the early 70s.”
“The main goal of icebreaking is to keep the shipping channels passable”, said McGuiness. “This year we were not able meet our goal. The demands for our services outstripped our resources. In some ports the ice was too severe fore even the Mackinaw, the largest icebreaker on the Great Lakes and the Samuel Risley, Canada’s largest icebreaker on the Great Lakes. Traffic lakes wide only moved with escorts.”
The United States and Canada maintain the largest bilateral trade relationship in the world, and trade between the province of Ontario and the Great Lakes states accounts for more than half of the total. Historically, this trade relationship dates back to the Native Americans, who first mined copper in the northern parts of the Great Lakes region and traded it as far east as New York.
Later, French fur traders followed the water routes used by the Indians, traveling the lakes in their canoes with loads of pelts bound for the East Coast and Europe. The fur trade lasted until the early 1800s and was followed by logging, commercial fishing and agriculture and, more recently, by manufactured goods.
“Icebreaking on the Great Lakes is a key to the regions economy,” said McGuiness. “We help our industries maintain global competitiveness. We keep the shipping lanes open a month longer in winter and open them up earlier in the spring. These longer shipping seasons mean reduced the factories do not have to stockpile so much raw materials. That reduces inventory costs, so the cost of manufacturing is lower. We clear the ways so ships carrying coal can reach power plants, resulting in lower cost, yet reliable electicity for everyone. Barges keep gasoline and home heating oil flowing north. For the average citizen this means lower cost for heating oil and gasoline. The region needs shipping, and shipping needs Coast Guard icebreaking.”
An average of 200 million tons of cargo passes through the Great Lakes each year. Major Commodities shipped on the Great Lakes each season are; iron ore 72,300,000 tons and coal 41,000,000 tons. Dry –bulk shipping generally begins in early March and extends until the end of January. One 65,000-ton cargo of iron ore keeps a major steel mill in operation for more that four days. One 65,000-ton coal cargo produces enough electricity to power the Greater Detroit area for one day.
“A Detroit area steel mill’s operation was facing layoffs if product was not moved during midwinter,” said McGuiness. “Our icebreakers were able to keep the channels open and shipping moving. The mill stayed open and no layoffs were made.”
The Great Lakes are divided into two main parts; the St. Lawrence Seaway and the Upper Great Lakes. The St. Lawrence Seaway includes Lake Ontario, the Welland Canal and the numerous lakes, river and locks the connect Lake Ontario to the Atlantic Ocean. The Upper Great Lakes include; Lake Erie, Lake Huron, Lake Michigan, Lake Superior, Lake St. Claire, Sault Ste. Marie Locks and the St. Claire and Detroit Rivers.
The main cargo exported from the Great Lakes region is U.S. and Canadian grain. The ships that carry cargo to the Atlantic are called “salties”. A single ‘saltie’ carries 925,000 bushels of grain, which represents the harvest of 29,000 acres and would make enough bread to feed New York City for a month.
“This season, ice delayed the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway,” said McGuiness. “This is the first delay in the seaway’s seasonal opening since 1959. The St. Lawrence Seaway is required to be open from late March until late December. Ice begins forming early in the St. Lawrence Seaway, especially in the Welland Canal, the part of the waterway that connects lakes Ontario and Erie.”
Icebreaking in the St. Lawrence Seaway is the responsibility of the Seaway Commission and the Canadian Coast Guard. The Canadian icebreaker Simcoe and the Seaways tug Robinson Bay keep commerce moving until the Seaway closes. This season the heavy ice conditions delayed the opening of the Seaway and Welland Canal six days. The Canadian Coast Guard ordered in the Pierre Radisson and the U.S. Coast Guard brought up the Morro Bay from New England to assist.
Seasoned marine community members have characterized current conditions as the worst season in the last 25 years. Davis Helberg, Port director of Duluth, M.N., stated that this is one of three worst ice conditions seen in his 45 years with the port.
“15 December to 30 April is the official ice season, although we have certainly broken ice before and after these dates,” said McGuiness. There is a mid winter period between 29 Jan. and 15 March when we reduce our icebreaking missions. This corresponds to a slow down in ship traffic and the height of the ice season. We use this time to do minor repairs and get ready for the spring opening.”
Effective icebreaking is a combination of specially designed hull, horsepower, air bubblers and heeling tanks. The maximum thickness of ice a cutter can break varies according to its size, design, engine power, weight and whether or not it s uses any unique icebreaking systems
The 140-foot bay-class icebreaking cutters are equipped with a bubbler system. A bubbler system is a low-pressure air pump that forces air out of small holes along the bottom of the cutter. This reduces resistance against the hull
. The primary method for icebreaking is for a cutter to build up speed and ride up onto the ice, crushing it beneath its hull as it steams ahead. When the ice is too thick to ride up on, the cutters ram the ice then back up and ram it again. This is called ‘back and ram” and like a floating battering ram, the cutter slowly pounds its way through the ice.
“Icebreaking is very hard on the cutter’s engine plant,” said McGuiness. “The backing and ramming of the ice, requires the engine plant to be constantly ramping up and down. This leads to a lot of engine casualties. Our cutters are old, but they are in great shape because of the hard work of their crews.”
“It is very stressful work,” said McGuiness. “Crews work in narrow channels near shoal water, with many evolutions going on at the same time for days on end. Icebreaking is a very complex operation, but given all that; most of us just love it. We get a deep rooted sense of satisfaction from moving huge ships through the ice and the contribution we make to the region.”
The dominant factor in icebreaking is the weather. It is a constant variable that shapes the whole ice season. Sometimes it can be a crew’s worst enemy, other times, like the recent warm spell has been a gift.
“We have to be very respectful of the weather,” said McGuiness. “Strong winds will close a track as fast as it is made. In open water, topside icing is a real danger to ships stability and something to be avoided. You have to work with the weather, not against it. Delaying operations for a few hours or perhaps a day due to weather is usually just as efficient, as following a tight schedule, but safer.”
“Whitefish Bay is typically our most difficult area,” said McGuiness. “Ice that forms on Lake Superior is blown by the prevailing winds into the bay. This year we saw plate ice as thick as five feet and ice ridges as high as 15 feet above the lake surface. A track needs to be open before the locks at Sault St. Marie can be used. U.S. icebreakers were able to establish and maintain tracks and the locks opened on time at midnight March 25.”
“It has been a challenging year and we are very proud of our icebreaking crews,” said McGuiness. “They were able to keep the ships moving. But, we are by no means done. We continue to assist shipping, conduct flood relief icebreaking and restore all the channel markers. There is plenty of work ahead.”
The last time the lakes completely froze over was 1979.
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