US Deep Freeze Traps Massive Freighter in Lake Erie Ice
January 25, 2025
4,443
A massive freighter has become trapped in the thick ice of Lake Erie as an intense deep freeze grips much of the United States.
Newsweek has contacted the Coast Guard for comment via email.
Why It Matters
More than a dozen people remain trapped on the freighter, and the ice on the lake risks hampering trade routes between Canada and the U.S.
The lake freighter Manitoulin immobilized by thick ice in Lake Erie outside the Buffalo River breakwall on January 23. The lake freighter Manitoulin immobilized by thick ice in Lake Erie outside the Buffalo River breakwall on January 23. Derek Gee/The Buffalo News/AP
What To Know
On Wednesday, the 663-foot Canadian freighter Manitoulin had reportedly just delivered a load of wheat and was attempting to return to Sarnia, Ontario, when it became stuck in the frozen waters.
The Bristol Bay, a U.S. Coast Guard cutter from Detroit, is attempting to free the freighter, on which 17 people were traveling. Efforts to free the vessel were called off on Thursday evening before resuming on Friday. However, the crew of the ship remains stuck on board.
The Coast Guard said the Manitoulin wasn’t damaged and that the captain and crew were safe and in good health, with enough fuel, food and electricity.
It added that freighters often got stuck during this time of year, particularly with temperatures fluctuating between 15 degrees and 1 degree below zero.
An Arctic polar vortex has brought freezing temperatures and frigid winds to millions across the country this winter.
According to the National Weather Service, the Arctic polar vortex is a powerful band of west-to-east winds that develops in the stratosphere, about 10 to 30 miles above the North Pole, during the winter season.
It is always present near the poles, though it weakens during summer and intensifies in winter.
During winter in the Northern Hemisphere, the polar vortex often expands, pushing cold air southward along with the jet stream.
Michael Shukwit, the director of operations at Michigan’s Elmwood Cemetery, told Newsweek on Thursday that this year’s polar vortex had been particularly challenging.
This week, the vortex brought a winter storm to Florida and Louisiana that broke records for the most snowfall in 24 hours. Winter weather warnings are in place in nine states.
What People Are Saying
Paul Angelillo, a search and rescue specialist with the Coast Guard in Buffalo, told CBC of the spectacle the immobilized ship had created: “We just haven’t had a bad winter in quite a while. So now that we’ve had one and people haven’t seen this for a bit, they’re like ‘what’s going on?'”
What Happens Next
Efforts to free the freighter and its crew are underway. Officials said the lake ice appeared to be much thicker this year than in the past, and there were few signs it would soon thaw.
Um die besten Erfahrungen zu bieten, verwenden wir Technologien wie Cookies, um Geräteinformationen zu speichern und/oder darauf zuzugreifen. Wenn Sie diesen Technologien zustimmen, können wir Daten wie das Surfverhalten oder eindeutige IDs auf dieser Website verarbeiten. Die Nichteinwilligung oder der Widerruf der Einwilligung kann bestimmte Merkmale und Funktionen beeinträchtigen.
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
