U.S.-flag shipping on the Great Lakes lost a total of 1,953 hours or 82 ship days due to inadequate icebreaking, about a third of the shipping season on the Great Lakes.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. At one point, 19 vessels were stopped for multiple days in the ice…
