U.S. Coast Guard’s officials, announced that the “USCGC Katmai Bay” begun its ice breaking operations. In order to face the expanded ice growth and as part of the “Operation Taconite”, the 40-foot ice-breaking tug started its ice breaking procedures in western Great Lakes.
Specifically, the “Operation Taconite“, supports Lake Superior, St. Marys River, Straits of Mackinac, Georgian Bay, Green Bay, northern Lake Huron, and Lake Michigan.
As the Sector Sault Sainte Marie in the Coast Guard’s 9th District informed, the ice breaking operations include the following priorities, with a specific order:
- search and rescue
- homeland security
- urgent response to vessels
- exigent community services such as ice breaking for flood control and to assist icebound communities in immediate need of food, fuel for heat or energy
- medical assistance
- facilitation of navigation
In the following weeks, various commercial waterways might close, as there is an emerge need to protect the marine environment and keep the safety of island’s residents, who use natural ice bridges to transport to and from the mainland.
For the records, the Coast Guard Authority for domestic ice breaking, was created in 1936. Through Executive Order 7521, inked from President Franklin D. Roosevelt, ice breaking established to aid in keeping open navigation in channels and harbors, following the reasonable demands of commerce.
