Dear Members,
Below is a brief of the 3rd Seaway Opening Call from this morning:
Ice Management Systems
- Both ice management systems installed and fully operational.
- Continuous ice flushing underway.
- Systems tested and verified as ready for Seaway operations.
Ice Operations & Vessel Coordination
- Ongoing multi-day ice flushing operations.
- Tug operations active in Beauharnois.
- 12–24 inches of ice reported on Lac Saint-Francis; breakup and removal required.
- First five upbound vessels starting with Algoma Bear
- Scheduling remains flexible depending on ice conditions.
Coast Guard & Anchorage Safety
- There are no open anchorages at this point – it’ll take a while before all the ice is out of Lac Saint-Louis and Lac Saint-Francis and it is not deemed safe to have ships go to anchorage for the time being
- Martha Black conducting ice management on Lake Francis.
- Additional craft completed successful work on Lake St. Louis through Friday.
- Pointe Fortier anchorage deemed unsafe due to ice movement from Bay of Cascade.
- St. Zotique anchorage status pending confirmation with Martha Black’s captain.
- Other Coast Guard hovercraft to resume operations Tuesday.
Pilotage Readiness
- GLPA pilotage crews on standby; full operations begin with Martha Blacks arrival.
- Daylight-only transits at mariners’ discretion
- St. Lawrence pilotage confirms dispatch readiness and active monitoring.
U.S. Operations & Cape Vincent
- Full U.S. pilotage readiness confirmed (crews and equipment).
- Dynamic icy conditions at Cape Vincent due to shifting winds.
- G-3’s morning transit assisted with ice breakup. If Martha Black is there to assist, it could improve conditions
- No over-carriage requirements anticipated on Lake Ontario at this time.
- Conditions continue to be monitored and updates will be communicated as needed.
Next Seaway Opening Call: Tuesday March 24 at 9:00am
Sincerely,
Farah Ahmad
Coordinator, Operations