2 April 2015 – After a one-week delay due to cold weather and heavy ice the St. Lawrence Seaway opened Thursday morning.
The CCGS Griffon breaking the ice on Lake Erie. See video below. (Fisheries Canada)
On April 1, 2015 Fisheries Canada posted this video showing the Canadian icebreaker CCGS Griffon breaking the ice on Lake Erie.
With the lakes almost as heavily iced-over as last year, shipowners had worried that without more ice breakers, the opening might not occur on time.
However, the shipping lines were told CCGS Martha L Black and CCGS Pierre Radisson would enter the seaway just before its official opening, joining the CCGS Griffon, CCGS Samuel Risley, and four US Coast Guard vessels, which were already at work.
Transport Minister Lisa Raitt
Opening the Seaway is incredibly important to the economy.
In 2014 ‘some 12 million tonnes of grain moved through the Seaway — the highest volume since the turn of the 21st century,’ said Canadian Transport Minister Lisa Raitt in a press release.
http://www.ihsmaritime360.com/article/17213/great-lakes-reinforcements-may-fail-to-break-the-ice
Thanks to Carl B for these links