Some have been trapped since Sunday. U.S. and Canadian Coastguards now working to rescue the vessels from the crushing grip of the ice.
Photo courtesy Fisheries and Oceans Canada
One of the stranded freighters – the Kaye E. Barker – has sustained hull damage below the water line. The vessel was expected to move its cargo onto another ship.
Unseasonable Lake Superior ice
It’s rare to see this much ice at Whitefish Bay — on eastern Lake Superior between Michigan and Ontario — in a shipping season that officially started late last month, said Mark Gill, director of vessel traffic services for the US Coast Guard at Sault Ste. Marie.
“They’re just waiting … for us to get a track through it,” Gill told the Detroit News.
These are “very challenging ice conditions,” said Carol Launderville, a spokeswoman for the Canadian Coast Guard.
http://rt.com/usa/248069-ships-stranded-lake-superior/
Thanks to Laurel for this info
“So much for icebreaking,” says Laurel. “Instead, the ice is breaking the boats.”