CLEVELAND, Ohio — A large freighter and a commercial tug were freed Thursday after becoming stuck in thick ice on Lake Erie near Fairport Harbor during a difficult trip toward its winter berth.
The Sam Laud, a 635-foot bulk carrier, ran into significant ice problems overnight Wednesday into Thursday while traveling from Cleveland to Ashtabula at the end of the Great Lakes shipping season.
According to social media updates from WTOL meteorologist Ryan Wichman, the freighter was forced to stop overnight as ice rapidly thickened across western Lake Erie. A commercial tug, the Kimberly Joy, was sent from the Detroit River to assist.
With the tug on scene Thursday morning, the two vessels were briefly able to make progress, working together to break ice in short sections and move east. After, both vessels later became stuck again in heavy ice north of the Fairport Harbor shoreline, Wichman reported.
With both vessels beset, the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Bristol Bay, an icebreaking tug assigned to the Great Lakes, was dispatched Thursday afternoon. The Coast Guard vessel was able to free both ships and escort them through heavy ice toward Ashtabula.
Vessel tracking data from MarineTraffic showed the Sam Laud back underway by about 4:30 p.m. Thursday, after Coast Guard assistance arrived.
The freighter reached Ashtabula late Thursday night after an all-day and overnight journey through some of the thickest ice on Lake Erie, according to Wichman and Lance Aerial Media, which documented the ships’ movements.
A social media post from Lance Aerial Media said Lake Erie ice coverage exceeded 95% during the incident, with ice thickness reaching up to about 12 inches in ridged areas due to prolonged subzero temperatures and wind-driven pressure.
“There is no indication the crews were in any immediate danger at any point,” Wichman wrote earlier Thursday, citing shoreline observers and vessel tracking data.
The Sam Laud is a U.S.-flagged bulk carrier designed to unload its own cargo, according to MarineTraffic. The ship is nearly 70 feet wide.
The Bristol Bay is a 140-foot icebreaking tug operated by the U.S. Coast Guard. The vessel’s primary mission is to open and maintain icebound shipping lanes on the Great Lakes, though it also conducts search and rescue operations, environmental protection, law enforcement, and port security missions, according to the Coast Guard.