ICE BREAKING NIXED: Coast Guard Cancels Scheduled April 12 Saginaw Bay Work

Cargo Movements, Fleet Size, Limited by Record-Breaking Ice on Lakes

April 12, 2014
By: Dave Rogers

The Coast Guard has canceled ice-breaking operations that were scheduled to take place in Saginaw Bay, beginning Saturday morning April 12.

The ice-breaking operations were announced Thursday in a news release.

In an update Monday, Lt. Jillian Lamb, public affairs officer for the Coast Guard at Detroit, said the bay ice already was beginning to weaken and with high winds was dissipating, reducing the need for ice breaking.

The Coast Guard had announced the 140-foot icebreaker Neahbay would be breaking ice from Gravelly Shoal to the mouth of the Saginaw River, warning fishers and other sports enthusiasts to stay off the ice that would become unstable.

The Neahbay was assigned to participate in Operation Taconite in Lake Superior, an exercise designed to speed the shipment of iron ore to factories in Illinois, Indiana, and Pennsylvania, said Lt. Lamb.

Operation Taconite is the largest domestic icebreaking operation in the U.S., easing the transporting the vast amounts of iron ore from the mines at the Head of the Lakes needed to meet the demands of steel mills in Lake Erie and Lake Michigan.

Anyone participating in ice activities on the Great Lakes should follow the acronym of I.C.E.:

* Information about current weather and ice conditions. Tell a friend of your intended destination. Know who and how to call for help.

* Clothing that is appropriate for the activity. Dress for the water temperature, not the air temperature. Choose bright colors and reflective garments to aid searchers if you should end up needing help.

* Equipment to be safer on the ice. Always bring a life jacket, a compass or GPS, a means of communication, such as a marine radio, and screw drivers or ice picks, which may allow you to pull yourself out of the water should you break through.

For additional information, contact Lt. Jillian Lamb, Coast Guard Sector Detroit public affairs officer, at 313-568-9587.

- See more at: http://www.uscgnews.com/go/doc/4007/2142870/UPDATE-Coast-Guard-cancels-planned-ice-breaking-operations-in-Saginaw-Bay#sthash.3vfX5tQL.dpuf

The Lake Carriers Association reports that ice formations the likes of which have not been seen in decades severely limited cargo movement in U.S.-flag vessels on the Great Lakes in March.

Shipments of iron ore, coal and cement in lakers totaled 980,000 tons, a decrease of 55 percent compared to a year ago. Some of the cargo that was loaded in March was not delivered until April 7 or later.

Iron ore cargos totaled 827,000 tons, a decrease of 47 percent compared to a year ago. Most of the ore was loaded at Escanaba, Michigan, or shuttled within Cleveland Harbor. Only 67,000 tons were loaded at a Lake Superior port, and the ice formations on Lake Superior and the St. Marys River were so thick that that those cargos were not delivered until April 7 or later. Under normal circumstances those cargos should have been delivered in late March or early April.

Resumption of the coal trade was likewise slowed by winter's grip on the Lakes. Shipments totaled 103,000 tons, a decrease of 44.5 percent compared to a year ago.

The only other dry-bulk cargo to move in March was cement, and shipments fell to 52,000 tons, a decrease of 67 percent compared to a year ago.

Through March 31, U.S.-flag cargos total 3.2 million tons, a decrease of nearly 39 percent compared to the same point in 2013.

The extreme ice conditions will have an impact on cargo movement in April was well. As of April 1, only 23 U.S.-flag lakers were in service. A year earlier 38 vessels were in operation. Forty U.S.-flag lakers were moving on April 1, 2012. ###