By Jim Bloch
It was a bad winter for freighters in the Great Lakes.
“The numbers are in and U.S.-flagged shipping on the Great Lakes lost a total of 1,953 hours or 82 ship days due to inadequate icebreaking,” said the Lake Carriers Association in a May 19 report. “To put 82 days in perspective, it is about a third of the shipping season on the Great Lakes as the Soo Locks close on January 15th.”
Each year, during the closure, crews from U.S. Army Corps of Engineers conduct maintenance on the locks.
The locks opened for the 2026 shipping season at 12:01 a.m. March 25.
“It took 96 hours after the Soo locks opened for the year for the first vessel loaded with iron ore to finally clear the St. Marys River, the critical connection point between Lake Superior and the lower lakes,” said the association. “At one point 19 vessels were stopped for multiple days in the ice, waiting for icebreakers to clear the way to either get their loads or deliver them.”
Each season, freighters move through the locks about 4,500 times.
U.S. flagged ships can haul 90 million tons of iron ore, stone, coal, cement, and other dry bulk materials such as grain, salt, and sand per year; they account for about 56 percent of freighter traffic on the lakes. Canadian flagged ships account for about 29 percent. Foreign-flagged freighters make up about 15 percent.
“The ice season dragged on well into April, stretching Coast Guard icebreaking crews and their worn-out ships,” the association said. “The only U.S. Coast Guard heavy icebreaker on the lakes is the CGC Mackinaw, and she was limited to operating below the Soo Locks due to an engineering casualty. Where the Mackinaw was really needed was in the heavy snow-covered ice in Whitefish Bay at the southeast end of Lake Superior. Unfortunately, with only one partially operational heavy icebreaker, traffic came to a standstill for most of March with significant delays experienced well into April.”
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District, noted the lingering ice on its Facebook page. “The calendar may say it is spring, but we are still seeing a lot of ice at the #SooLocks,” said the Corps, April 10. “Today the Belasitza passed through on her way to the steel mill in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario.”
Age and mechanical problems plague the Coast Guard icebreaking fleet.
“On several occasions during the ice season, federal icebreakers suffered significant engineering problems which left them sidelined during the height of the need,” according to the association. “The 140-foot Coast Guard icebreaking tugs, which are over 45 years old, continue to breakdown on a regular basis.”
Weather break
Weather in the southern portion of the Great Lakes Basin ended up helping the situation.
“Things were bad this year for winter shipping, which started in early December, but it could have been much, much worse,” the association said. “Warmer temperatures on the southern lakes in March melted the significant icepack on Lake Erie and the Detroit-St Clair River systems which allowed the Coast Guard to concentrate their limited operational assets in the north.”
The association underlined the need for a new heavy icebreaker.
“This is a national problem that requires America’s attention,” said Jim Weakley, president of the Lake Carriers’ Association, in a statement. “Our companies’ ability to move the building blocks of North American manufacturing, which drives our economy and growth, extend well beyond the Great Lakes Region. The nation needs another U.S. Coast Guard heavy Great Lakes icebreaker.”
New icebreaker?
Currently, a new “homeland security cutter-heavy ice breaker” remains in the proposal stage, according to the USCG.
The ship would be 240 feet in length and capable of breaking ice 32 inches thick.
“This additional icebreaker will join the Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw, which provides heavy icebreaking capability in the Great Lakes,” according to the USCG website. “Combined, these vessels will break through thick ice formations, ensuring that vital shipping channel remain open; assist vessels trapped in ice; clear the channel to keep commerce moving through the icy waterways; and mitigate ice jams and flooding, which will reduce the risk of damage to infrastructure and communities along the waterways.”
The heavy icebreaker will cost at least $350 million. Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill originally included funding for the icebreaker, but it was cut before being passed by Congress, according to Bridge Michigan.
The Lake Carriers Association has been advocating for a new heavy icebreaker for years.
“There needs to be a second heavy icebreaker at least as capable as the USCGC Mackinaw in the Great Lakes, both for system resiliency and to meet the needs of commerce,” the association said in a 2020 report. “The U.S. Coast Guard must also develop a realistic priority system for icebreaking and better manage their existing resources to replace the current floundering process. During the winters of 2014 and 2015, the U.S. economy suffered losses of over $1 billion and 5,800 jobs because of the lack of effective Great Lakes icebreaking. In 2018, another $1 billion and 5,000 jobs were lost due to inadequate icebreaking on the Great Lakes.”
Jim Bloch is a freelance writer based in St. Clair, Michigan. Contact him at bloch.jim@gmail.com.
